FULL TIME: West Ham United 2-2 Manchester City
... sends a header pinging off the top of the crossbar! He really should have scored! But a draw is probably a fair result. That was a magnificent game of football. West Ham stay in sixth place, a point behind Manchester United. Manchester City move up into second, level on points with Arsenal but six goals to the good, and three points behind Leicester City. City weren’t at their best tonight, but fought back well for what could be a crucial point in a topsy-turvy season. And they’ve stopped an impressive Hammers side from doing the league double over them. So close to breaking that 53-year drought, and yet so far.
Updated
90 min +4: Or is there? West Ham go up the other end through Moses, out on the left. He’s upended by Fernando, who is booked. A chance for West Ham to load the box, and for the set-piece genius Payet to whip one in. Payet sends the free kick sailing into the area, Kouyate rises ten yards out, and ...
Updated
90 min +3: De Bruyne threatens to break clear into the City box down the right, but Reid sticks to him like glue. City have to check back. Then Iheanacho finds space down the right and fires a low cross in for Aguero, who shoots first time towards the bottom right. Adrian reads well, and there’s to be no dramatic winner.
90 min +2: Byram goes down with cramp. He gets up again after a while, but can barely stand, never mind walk.
90 min +1: De Bruyne slides a fine pass down the inside-left channel to find Sterling inside the West Ham area. But Sterling is snoozing, and doesn’t control properly, sucking all momentum out of the pass, and the attack.
90 min: Jelavic has looked a menace since coming on. Another ball swung into the City box from the right, and he’s not far from meeting this one either. There will be three added minutes. Can either of these teams find a winner?
89 min: ... another corner’s won. And from that, Jelavic has a free header on the right-hand corner of the six-yard box, but he mistimes it totally, the ball flashes across the face of goal, and is cleared by Sagna. City go up the other end, where Toure clatters into Song and is booked for his trouble.
88 min: Payet has the ball on a piece of string down the right. He draws Clichy, before sending Cresswell into space. The low cross to the near post is nearly met by Jelavic. Otamendi turns the ball behind for a corner. From which ...
87 min: West Ham’s two-goal hero Valencia is spent. He trudges off, to be replaced by Jelavic.
86 min: Toure has a whack from the edge of the West Ham D, but there’s no juice in the shot. It’s easily blocked.
85 min: It’s all City in terms of possession now. De Bruyne powers forward and slides the ball left for Sterling, who looks to turn Byram. The full back gives him a bear hug. There’s nice. But it should be a free kick, to the left of the West Ham box, in a dangerous position. It’s not given, though.
83 min: City are pressing for a winner now. Silva dribbles with purpose down the right. He thinks about shooting, but lays off to Iheanacho, who tries to curl carefully into the top left from the edge of the box. No no no, way too ponderous and meek. That’s Silva’s last contribution, by the way. Or to be more precise, his second last: his final act is to shake his head ostentatiously as he’s hooked in favour of Fernando, the plan being to throw Toure further forward. He’s not happy.
GOAL! West Ham United 2-2 Manchester City (Aguero 81)
Iheanacho has been lively since coming on. He bursts down the middle of the park and looks to feed Aguero on the edge of the box. Aguero can’t control. The ball breaks a little to the right. Iheanacho takes up possession again, just inside the box, and flicks a battling pass back left for Aguero, who is free, 12 yards out! Aguero dinks a delicious finish over Adrian, and City are level again!
Updated
79 min: Sterling embarks on a dribble down the left. He’s got the beating of Byram, who is either cramping up or is injured, but the cross that follows is a low dribbler that Adrian easily snaffles. West Ham go up the other end, Valencia feeding Moses down the left. There’s nobody in the middle, so Moses tries the spectacular from a tight angle. Nope!
77 min: Iheanacho’s first act is to nearly set Aguero free on a run towards the West Ham box. But Noble is tenacious, and refuses to let the striker race away. There’s a good old-fashioned battle on the edge of the area, and eventually West Ham clear their lines.
76 min: Delph is replaced by Iheanacho.
74 min: Payet causes more panic on the edge of the City area with his tight close control. He draws Toure, and very nearly dinks a pass forward for Cresswell, but it doesn’t quite come off. The full back would have been clear on goal. This is a very impressive performance by West Ham, but particularly by this man Payet. What a player he is.
72 min: Sagna makes good down the right. Near the corner flag, he whips a high ball into the middle. Aguero rises over Collins, winds his neck back only a little, and sends a fine header meant for the top left. It’s just wide of the post. That would have been some goal if he’d got it on target. How did he get so much power on that header?
71 min: With West Ham light at the back, Sterling sprays a delicious long ball down the middle onto Aguero’s chest. But the striker has gone too early and is flagged for offside. City look a little shapeless and short of ideas right now.
70 min: Byram is booked for a fairly blatant body check on Delph. Again, this one was in the middle of the park, and fairly unnecessary. But a yellow card it is.
69 min: Sterling’s first act is to tug Moses to the floor near the centre circle. Pointless, unless he fancied a quick reminisce about Liverpool’s failed title bid of 2014.
67 min: Navas is replaced by Sterling.
65 min: Antonio is replaced by Moses. Then Song, 30 yards out, flicks the ball up and attempts to Le Tissier one up, down and into the bottom left. Not quite, but not far away at all.
64 min: Payet dribbles down the left. He draws Sagna, then slides Cresswell into space. Cresswell reaches the byline, and pulls one back for Valencia, on the spot. It’s just behind his intended target. Lovely football, though, City very nearly torn apart.
62 min: It’s not quite coming off for City in attack. Aguero and Silva exchange crisp passes down the right, but West Ham are deep and compact, and eventually the ball’s clanked out of play.
60 min: Otamendi channels his inner Beckenbauer and strides forward with purpose down the inside-right flank, before rolling a pass forward for De Bruyne. The Belgian can’t get a shot away as he enters the box, but the ball breaks to Silva, who can. But the angle’s prohibitive, and Adrian smothers easily enough at his near post. A decent response from City, this.
58 min: City try to respond quickly to falling behind for the second time in this match. They probe down either flank, but can’t quite get a ball inside for Aguero. Delph, coming in from the right, has another go from distance, but this one is easily blocked.
GOAL! West Ham United 2-1 Manchester City (Valencia 56)
A throw down the West Ham right. It’s flung into the City box by Antonio. Otamendi is sleeping, and misreads the bounce. Valencia gets ahead of him, and toe-pokes it past the advancing Hart and in! That’s as simple as a goal will ever get. What were City thinking?
Updated
55 min: City pass it around patiently in the West Ham half for what seems like ages, going nowhere. Then suddenly Delph breaks down the inside-left channel, and sends a low shot towards the right-hand corner. It clips off the heel of Byram, right in front of him, and hits the base of the right-hand post before bouncing clear of danger. What bad luck for City. Doubly so, because ...
52 min: This is better from Toure, who chases after a jet-heeled Valencia down the left, and wins a tough shoulder-to-shoulder duel, forcing the West Ham striker to run the ball out for a goal kick just as he threatened to break clear into the box. City want to see more of that from their captain.
51 min: West Ham finally launch a second-half attack, Valencia busying himself down the right to earn a corner that never looked on. The resulting set piece is cleared, but West Ham come back at the visitors. Payet and Noble combine down the right - Toure not for the first time this evening slack in his defensive duties - and a cross is sent looping to the far post. Valencia, on the left-hand edge of the six-yard box, should crash a header home, but heads down and wide left. What a chance.
49 min: City have come out with renewed purpose, though. Delph goes on a driving run down the middle and shuffles his feet in the hope of making space to shoot from 20 yards. He fluffs that, but his determination wins the ball back, and he slips it wide to De Bruyne. The resulting ball infield is no good, but this is an improvement for City from the closing stages of the first half.
48 min: Toure witlessly hoicks the free kick straight into the wall. Awful.
47 min: Aguero looks to burst through the middle. He’s got a strangely uninterested Silva to his right, so has to go it alone. He loses the ball, but Delph picks it up and is knocked to the ground by Noble. A free kick in a dead central position, 25 yards from goal. Yaya Toure is on the scene.
And we're off again!
West Ham get the ball rolling for the second half. No changes. The Hammers lose the ball quick-smart, allowing De Bruyne to have a look down the left wing, but his probing comes to naught.
Half-time entertainment: An emotional retrospective of life at the Boleyn. Well worth a look if you missed it on BT Sport.
HALF TIME: West Ham United 1-1 Manchester City
A highly entertaining half of football comes to an end after three incident-free extra minutes. West Ham will feel they deserve the lead at the break: they’ve been the better side, and only a majestic Hart save from Payet’s free kick has kept the visitors on terms. West Ham will hope for more of the same in the second half; City will need to step it up a bit if they’re to keep on Leicester City’s tail. Should make for a cracking second period.
Updated
44 min: City look like a team waiting for the half-time whistle and an opportunity to regroup. They’ve been on the rack a bit in the last few minutes.
42 min: Noble chases down the right after a ball he should never win, and earns a cheap corner off Delph. From which nothing much happens.
40 min: Payet, jinking away on the left, flicks a ball to the overlapping Cresswell, who dinks a cross to the far post. Valencia and Kouyate were waiting to head home, but Hart, backtracking at speed, claws the ball away from the top right. From a tight angle, Antonio puts the ball behind for a goal kick. But West Ham are asking a lot of questions here.
39 min: Navas, out on the right, turns sharply to escape Noble. The West Ham man catches him late, on the top of the foot, and goes in the book. The resulting free kick is a waste of time.
37 min: West Ham are pressing City back right now. Kouyate, Payet and Noble attempt to triangulate down the left, but can’t quite prise an opening. Otamendi blooters clear.
35 min: Payet can’t find the head of a team-mate, but his delivery does force Demichelis to head out for a throw on the right. The ball’s flung long into the box, and the on-fire Payet attempts to bicycle-kick one in from 12 yards, level with the left-hand post. He shins it out to the left of the target. Full marks for ambition, though. A fine end to a magnificent burst of pressure.
34 min: From 25 yards, Payet creams a curler towards the top right corner. It’s going in, but Hart, at full stretch, fingertips away. That’s a stunning free kick, and the save’s its equal. The corner’s cleared, but we’ll be going again soon, because Payet is upended by Silva out on the right. Another free kick in a dangerous position. Payet won’t be going direct this time - it’s too far wide - but the home team will be loading the box.
Updated
33 min: De Bruyne dances down the left, then rolls Sagna into acres of space. Sagna stands it up into the centre. Silva’s free on the penalty spot, but the ball’s a bit high and he can’t adjust his body to get any power into the shot, which is taken mid-jump. West Ham speed up the other end, Antonio breaking into a lot of space down the right. He’s about to break into the box for a shooting chance, but Demichelis, in the knowledge that Otamendi is covering too, scythes him down. A cynical challenge, a no-brainer of a yellow card, and a free kick in a very dangerous position.
29 min: Sagna, in plenty of space down the right, can’t quite find Aguero with a low cross. West Ham half clear, then nearly play themselves into trouble. Sagna chases after a loose pass down the City right, but Payet is tracking back well, finds Collins in the middle with a calm pass, and the danger’s cleared.
26 min: Valencia and Antonio nearly combine down the West Ham right, but lose control near the box. Then there’s a super-determined run by Aguero down the City right. He could have gone down twice, but kept on keepin’ on, and was nearly rewarded when he cut inside looking for De Bruyne with a pass rolled out in space to the left. But Byram had his aerial switched on, and intercepted well. This is developing into a bright, end-to-end game, if not the manic goal-rush it threatened to become in the early stages.
24 min: Some running repairs to Kouyate. He’ll be OK by the looks of it. A fair chance he was staying on the ground there to make a point to the ref.
22 min: City go route one, Hart launching it long down the middle, Aguero very nearly getting around Reid as the defender tries to usher the ball out of play for a goal kick. Then West Ham launch an attack of their own, Kouyate romping along the right at speed, then being dumped on his teeth as Toure clacks his ankles. It should be a booking, but it’s not even a free kick.
19 min: De Bruyne flicks a ball down the inside-left channel to release Delph into space. He bursts into the box and earns a corner off Byram. Silva’s corner is half-cleared. He has another two goes at delivering the ball into the area, the second a vicious low drive that momentarily threatens to cause all sorts of pinball bedlam, until Kouyate clears with a deft overhead kick.
17 min: The brief break after the City equaliser for the treatment to Jenkinson has robbed this game of its early momentum. Bah. De Bruyne, floating all over the shop, tries to get something going with Silva down the left, but passes aren’t sticking right now.
15 min: Otamendi clatters Antonio to the ground as the West Ham man looks to make good down the left. That’s a pointless challenge, with Antonio going nowhere, because it’s a free kick in a dangerous position, West Ham able to load the box. Payet takes, but it’s a fairly basic lift into a packed box, and easily cleared by a City forehead.
14 min: It’s a lot of high-speed nonsense right now, as both teams come to terms with a hectic start. Breathe deeply, chaps, and find a neutral gear.
12 min: Jenkinson, after lengthy treatment, wanted to continue. But he’s going to be hooked anyway. Sam Byram comes on for an unexpected debut.
11 min: Soft the penalty may have been, but a penalty it was, Jenkinson sticking his leg across the dribbling Aguero. And there’s a double punishment for the full-back: he’s injured himself in making the challenge, and is struggling here.
GOAL! West Ham United 1-1 Manchester City (Aguero 9 pen)
Aguero stutters up to the ball, sends Adrian the wrong way, and rolls the ball into the left-hand side of the goal. It was a soft penalty, but City deserve to be level on the balance of play. What a start to this match!
Updated
Penalty to City
8 min: Aguero, fired up by the injustice of that last effort staying out, bursts into the West Ham box down the left. He’s barged off it by Jenkinson, unfairly so according to the referee, who points to the spot.
7 min: City are so unlucky not to be level. Toure chipped down the inside-left channel for Aguero. The striker took one touch on the edge of the box, then looped a gorgeous effort over Adrian. Surely that’s going to drop into the unguarded net! But it drifts onto the right-hand post, bounces along the line, and Reid clears. Wow! What a brilliant effort that was.
6 min: As is this: Silva dribbling with purpose down the left, entering the box, and very nearly finding Navas free on the penalty spot. Not quite.
5 min: City finally arrive. Space for De Bruyne down the right. The ball’s crossed into the mixer. Collins clears out for a corner, then deals with the set piece, delivered by the same City player. West Ham were fairly comfortable there, but that’s much better from the visitors.
4 min: City can’t keep hold of the ball right now. Payet makes good and loops a cross into the City box from the left, but Demichelis hoofs clear before Valencia can get near the ball.
2 min: A rather excitable Kouyate goes lunging in on Toure, and is lucky to avoid a yellow card. That was pretty rash. The crowd are also pretty excitable right now. What a start! A second nine-goal thriller of the day? There’s plenty time.
GOAL! West Ham United 1-0 Manchester City (Valencia 53 sec)
Kouyate brushes past a snoozing Toure down the left. He enters the area and pulls the ball back to Valencia on the penalty spot. Boom, straight down the middle, past a helpless Hart, and it’s the opening goal. Yes, that simple. Oh Yaya!
Updated
And we're off!
City get the ball rolling. They stroke it about the back awhile, making sure each defender gets a touch. Then a bit of head tennis in the middle of the park. And then ...
The teams are out! West Ham United are in their famous old-school claret and blue, while Manchester City make the slightly pointless shift from first-choice sky blue to second-choice dark blue. A cracking atmosphere at Upton Park, as there so often is. A rousing rendition of Bubbles. Hands are shaken, coins are tossed, muscles are gently stretched, and we’ll be off in a little minute or two!
Updated
Slaven Bilic speaks! “Our record against the top teams gives us confidence. We know what we have to do. We have a gameplan, and if we do it, we have a good chance. On the other hand, we are playing the best team on paper in the league. We have to have a complete game. We have to defend well. And when we have the ball, we need to use the space and keep the ball.”
Manuel Pellegrini is also keeping it simple. “It’s important not to lose points. We have less games left, so the margin of error is less. We’re involved in the title, but the only way to do it is winning and playing well.”
The results in the 3pm kick-offs have had an effect on both the sides. Leicester’s 3-0 thumping of Stoke means Manchester City can’t go top this evening with a win here, something that had been theoretically possible in the morning. Leicester are in pole position, three clear of Arsenal in second and four clear of City. But a win for Manuel Pellegrini’s side will elevate City to second, with Arsenal playing Chelsea tomorrow. Another reason they’ll be looking for a positive result: Spurs, 3-1 winners at Crystal Palace with Dele Alli announcing himself as the heir to Glenn Hoddle’s throne, are just a point behind City right now in fourth. As for West Ham, a win will take them into fifth, above Manchester United who lost at home this afternoon to Southampton. All the goodwill earned by Louis van Gaal at Anfield gone within the week. And they say politics is a short-term business.
West Ham make three changes to the starting XI at Newcastle. James Tomkins, Angelo Ogbonna and Pedro Obiang are out; Carl Jenkinson, Winston Reid and Alex Song step up.
Manchester City replace four of their starters against Crystal Palace. Sagna and Clichy come in for Zabaleta and Kolarov, Yaya Toure replaces Fernando, and Jesus Navas takes Kelechi Iheanacho’s place.
The teams
West Ham United: Adrian, Jenkinson, Collins, Reid, Cresswell, Kouyate, Song, Noble, Antonio, Valencia, Payet.
Subs: Randolph, Obiang, Moses, Ogbonna, Byram, Jelavic, Oxford.
Manchester City: Hart, Sagna, Otamendi, Demichelis, Clichy, Toure, Delph, Jesus Navas, Silva, De Bruyne, Aguero.
Subs: Zabaleta, Fernando, Sterling, Caballero, Fernandinho, Iheanacho, Tasende.
Referee: Craig Pawson (South Yorkshire)
Updated
Evenin' all!
West Ham United have already completed their first league double over Liverpool in 43 years; now they’re looking to do Manchester City home and away for the first time in 53. Truly these are epochal times at Upton Park.
Not least because they’ll be leaving the place in the summer. And my, how they’ll miss it. Never mind all that history: just look at this recent run of form! They’ve won their last three home matches, and haven’t been defeated on their own turf since that absurd upside-down 3-4 defeat by Bournemouth back in August.
City might be a little sad to see the old place go, too. They lost here last season, but otherwise their recent record at the Boleyn is very decent: three wins in the previous four visits, that run made up of a couple of 3-1 wins and a 3-0 which completed a nine-goal humiliation in the semi-final of the 2014 League Cup.
Both teams go into this match with their tails up. West Ham admittedly lost their last fixture, at revitalised Newcastle, but it’s their only defeat in nine. City meanwhile have only shipped three goals in their last six matches, and Sergio Aguero is back and already finding the net. The Hammers will be looking to continue their tilt at the Champions League spots; City plan to step up their title bid. It augurs well for an exciting match: it’s on!
Kick off: 5.30pm BST.
Updated
