West Ham United vs Manchester City Player Ratings: 9/10 for Jarrod Bowen; Fernandinho gets 4

Jarrod Bowen starred for West Ham United as they held Manchester City to a 2-2 draw in their final home game of the 2021/22 Premier League season. 

West Ham United enjoyed some early momentum before Manchester City settled into their rhythm and started to control proceedings. However, it was the home team who would open the scoring midway through the first half when Pablo Fornals sent Jarrod Bowen through on goal, who made no mistake after rounding Ederson Moraes.

The Cityzens upped the ante after going behind as Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko came close, but West Ham found the back of the net again just before half-time, with Bowen being the perpetrator. With the title race at stake, the reigning champions came out after the break with more purpose and immediately put the Hammers under pressure.

Just four minutes in, Jack Grealish pulled one back for Manchester City via a deflection off of Craig Dawson. Jesus then drew a save from Lukasz Fabianski while Bernardo Silva came close to scoring. But, some sloppy defending at the other end saw Pep Guardiola’s men gift West Ham a couple of chances, but Bowen and Michail Antonio failed to make the most of it.

The east London outfit would live to rue those misses as Manchester City found the equalising goal in the 69th minute when Vladimir Coufal diverted Riyad Mahrez’s free-kick into his own net. The league leaders could have then gone on to win the clash when Jesus was fouled inside the box by Dawson, leading to the referee pointing to the penalty spot. But, Fabianski pulled off a good stop to deny Mahrez from the spot, as it ended 2-2.

The result means Manchester City have a four-point lead over second-placed Liverpool, who have a game in hand. Should they win their final league game against Aston Villa, Guardiola’s side will go on to retain their Premier League title. As for West Ham, they remain seventh in the table, two points behind sixth-placed Manchester United and can still secure the sixth spot. Here are our player ratings for both sets of players.

West Ham United Player Ratings

Lukasz Fabianski: 7/10

The West Ham goalkeeper had little chance of stopping Grealish’s strike for City’s first goal but made good saves to deny Jesus and Silva not long after, while he also pulled off a brilliant stop to thwart Mahrez from the penalty spot.

Vladimir Coufal: 4/10

The Czech Republic defender did not look comfortable for most parts of the game and was booked for a foul on Kevin De Bruyne. He then headed Mahrez’s free-kick into his own net, helping Manchester city equalise.

Craig Dawson: 6/10

The seasoned campaigner had some iffy moments on the day but generally was alert and made several interventions to keep the champions at bay. Dawson was unlucky to see Grealish’s strike deflect off him and into the back of the net. He then gave away the penalty, which Fabianski saved.

Kurt Zouma: 7/10

The former Chelsea centre-back was up to the challenge against Guardiola’s men and made two key interventions in the first half to thwart Jesus. He continued his good work throughout the ninety minutes, putting in an astute defensive display.

Aaron Cresswell: 6/10

Cresswell had a difficult task of defending against Mahrez, who got the better of the left-back on occasions. But he still managed to keep the Algerian international relatively quiet, although could have offered a bit more attacking support.

Tomas Soucek: 7/10

Back into the side after being rested against Norwich City, Soucek looked solid against the Cityzens as he popped up to make key blocks to protect the defence while winning his fair share of headed duels. The midfielder had a hand in the Hammers’ second goal and almost managed to set Bowen up for a chance in the second half with a header.

Declan Rice: 7/10

The England international had the difficult task of keeping Kevin De Bruyne quiet on Sunday, and a strong challenge on the Belgian early on drew a lot of cheers from the support. Rice did his bit to protect the defence against the Cityzens and tried to drive his team up the field when on the ball.

Jarrod Bowen: 9/10

The livewire in attack for West Ham, Bowen’s movement from the right caused Manchester City all sorts of problems. His intelligent movement and timing of runs were key to both the goals he scored as he showed great quality and composure for both of his finishes. Bowen got booked for a cynical foul on Grealish. But apart from that, it was a near-perfect afternoon for the Englishman.

Manuel Lanzini: 5.5/10

The Argentine playmaker did not exert much influence on the proceedings as he did not get on the ball enough. However, he did work hard for the team’s cause when not in possession before making way for Mark Noble.

Pablo Fornals: 7/10

The Spaniard grafted as always for Newcastle United, winning balls off of the Manchester City players and trying to push forward when on the ball. Fornals also got the assist for Bowen’s first goal with a brilliant pass. 

Michail Antonio: 7/10

The Jamaican international looked like a threat each time he ran at Fernandinho and caused some problems for the Manchester City backline with his pace. He did well to create the second goal for Bowen but missed a great chance to score one later in the game.

SUBSTITUTES

Mark Noble: N/A

Mark Noble came on in the 77th minute to make his final appearance at home for West Ham. An emotional occasion for the one-club man who was hailed by Pep Guardiola after the match.

Ben Johnson: N/A

Stoppage-time substitute for Fornals as West Ham looked to shut up shop.

Andriy Yarmolenko: N/A

He came on for Antonio in stoppage time to make his last home appearance for the Hammers.

Manchester City Player Ratings

Ederson Moraes: 4/10

Poor decision-making from the Brazilian for the opening goal as he opted to come out of his line, allowing Bowen to round him to score. Ederson did not look secure on the day and was not helped by a vulnerable defence.

Joao Cancelo: 6/10

The Portuguese right-back had some issues at the back, while his passing was not always as accurate as it can be. However, he did provide a decent attacking outlet for the Cityzens at the London Stadium.

Fernandinho: 4/10

The Manchester City captain was an injury doubt for the game but started in London and endured a difficult afternoon. The Brazilian’s lack of pace was time and again exposed in the game, with Antonio causing a lot of issues. He almost gifted West Ham a third goal with a poor pass which Antonio could not capitalise on.

Aymeric Laporte: 4/10

Not good enough from the Spanish international, who was also a doubt for the game but made it to the starting XI. At times, Laporte pushed up too high, leaving spaces for West Ham to run into. He could not keep up with Bowen in the lead-up to the opening goal and almost presented the hosts with a goal in the second half. 

Oleksandr Zinchenko: 5/10

The Ukrainian left-back was also guilty of leaving a lot of space behind him that West Ham tried to exploit on the break. He did not track Bowen for the second goal either. However, he did add some attacking impetus for City from his flank.

Bernardo Silva: 6/10

A rather quiet outing for the Portuguese international who was not heavily involved for Manchester City on the night. He did have a couple of opportunities to score in the second half but could not breach the goal.

Rodri: 7/10

The Manchester City anchorman tried to push the team forward at every given chance, while also cutting out several of West Ham’s counterattacks. Rodri also got the assist for Grealish’s goal with a header.

Kevin De Bruyne: 6/10

The Player to Watch in our match preview, Kevin De Bruyne was very quiet on the afternoon after his four-goal haul against Wolves last time out. However, he did show some of his quality in the second half with some good-looking passes, enabling Manchester City’s comeback.

Riyad Mahrez: 6/10

Given the nod over Raheem Sterling, Mahrez was not quite at his best. While there were a few occasions when he caused Cresswell some grief, he did not pose much of a threat on the day. He did force the own goal for the equaliser with a good free-kick but failed to convert from the penalty spot, leaving the door open for Liverpool in the title race.

Gabriel Jesus: 7.5/10

The Brazilian, who could be headed to Arsenal in the summer, caused the West Ham defence some problems with his movement and link-up play. He drew a save from Fabianski and came close on a few more occasions while also having a penalty shout waved away before winning one in the second period.

Jack Grealish: 7/10

After enduring a quiet first period, Grealish burst onto the scenes after the break and got Manchester City back into the game with a good finish for the first goal. He almost created another for his teammate and made some eye-catching driving runs.