West Ham dent Man City title bid to move out of bottom three

Manchester City were left nine points behind Arsenal in the Premier League title race after being held by battling West Ham, who moved out of the relegation zone for the first time since December.

In a match largely low on quality, the flashpoint came with two goals in the space of four minutes.

First, City captain Bernardo Silva seemed to have provided the springboard his team needed with a moment of skill and impudence in the 31st minute.

He carried the ball into the box from the left and, spotting home keeper Mads Hermansen straying off his line anticipating a cross, chipped the ball towards the far post.

Whether the Portuguese midfielder was aiming for striker Erling Haaland or the net, the outcome was the opener.

But the hosts struck back just four minutes later with their only attempt on goal when a Jarrod Bowen corner was met with a towering header by Konstantinos Mavropanos.

The ex-Arsenal defender was brought in to shore up the Hammers defence with a five-man backline, but provided a crucial intervention at the other end with his first club goal in three years – helped by City keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, who flapped at the cross.

Antoine Semenyo flashed a low shot narrowly wide just before the break, before Hermansen also did brilliantly to deny Haaland one-on-one just before the hour.

In a flurry of late chances at London Stadium, substitute Rayan Cherki rattled the crossbar with a free-kick and Marc Guehi fired over in added time.

But it was a tepid performance from City who looked low on confidence following their 3-0 midweek Champions League beating at Real Madrid.

West Ham, meanwhile, moved out of the relegation zone for the first time in 102 days after just their fourth point from their last 21 league meetings with City.

Nottingham Forest, who host Fulham on Sunday, dropped into the bottom three.