MAN CITY 1, WEST BROM 1
How costly will the two lost points prove as Manchester City were surprisingly held at home by relegation threatened West Brom.
It was one of the season’s most unlikely results with the Baggies, having won only one of their first 13 Premier League matches, holding the mighty Blues.
But thanks to a brilliantly disciplined defensive display from Slaven Bilic’s side, and some inspired goalkeeping from goalkeeper Sam Johnstone in the latter stages, the visitors held out for only their seventh point of the season.
It was a frustrating night for City who, despite having 26 goal attempts, again failed to take their chances, a recurring theme in the early part of the season.
And a win would have lifted City to within three points of top spot. As it stands, they are sixth and five points adrift.
One of the most telling statistics, though, is the fact City have already dropped 16 points in their opening 12 league matches.
When Ilkay Gundogan put City ahead after a lacklustre opening, it looked like being another routine win, despite their lukewarm display.
The battling Baggies hit back through a Ruben Dias own goal shortly before half time and thee boys from the Black Country defended the point as though their lives depended on it in the second half.
Embed from Getty ImagesHero Johnstone, who ironically began his career across the city at Old Trafford, said: “The boys dug in, we fought for 95 minutes. They had a lot of the ball, but we knew that.
“The lads ran their socks off but I was there to make a few saves when needed. The two headers were close, and I just got a leg to them and kept them out.
“The quality of the balls they put in is unbelievable. The lads are buzzing with that result. It’s a massive game coming here.
“We love the manager. We knew getting promoted it would be difficult, we’re not hiding away from that.”
Bilic added: “I’m really proud of the boys. We asked them to work hard, to frustrate them and to wait for our chances and we’ve done everything.
“We helped each other and we counted of course on Sam Johnstone. But that’s what you need when you come to Etihad if you want to get anything from the game.
“We already played some really good stuff against the big teams. We were really disappointed when we’ve been empty handed. It’s really important today to be rewarded with the point.”
Guardiola said: “We didn’t create much in the first half, they had a lot of people back, we struggled to win the second balls. In the second half we did everything we just couldn’t score.
“We created enough to win the game, 26 shots I think, you just have to put the ball in, We are struggling with that. We have to be optimistic.
“You don’t have to be so clever to see the gap between this year and previous years [in our results]. It is not confidence, Sergio Aguero is injured for four months, but we create chances, we are there we just can’t score.
“It is not about the points [to the top of the league], you have to win games like this. We know it, we drop points. These are the ones you have to win. It’s not far away to the top of the league but you have to beat West Brom at home. There are a lot of games left.
“This situation is weird for everyone. We deserved to win the game, but we didn’t win it.”
City goalscorer Gundogan voiced his side’s disappointment: “We deserved better, we had the chances. I don’t know what to say, it’s disappointing to get one point, we must win these kind of games.
“It’s not always easy in this period of the year, so many games, they defend so deep. They do it well, they play with all they have, they fight for every ball. It’s not easy to create chances but we did – we just couldn’t score more than one goal.
“We have played great football in the past, we set the level high. The expectation is not going down just up. When you win you need to prove yourselves again. You can see all over Europe the big teams are struggling. It is not going to get easier in the next few weeks.
“We are human beings, not machines, we struggle as well. We know we could have played better but it feels like it was in the details today.”
City made four changes from the side that started the goalless derby.
Benjamin Mendy, Nathan Ake, Phil Foden and Gundogan replace Kyle Walker, John Stones, Fernandinho and Riyad Mahrez.
Sergio Aguero is on the bench after recovering from illness.
West Brom made three from their weekend defeat at Newcastle.
Kieran Gibbs, Jake Livermore and Grady Diangana came in for Branislav Ivanovic, Filip Krovinovic and Callum Robinson, who were all on the bench.
The Baggies almost stole ahead in the eighth minute when Karlan Grant cut in from the left before forcing a fine save from Ederson who was diving low to his left.
It was an opportunity Grant, a £15million deadline day signing from Huddersfield Town, needed to take if they were going to pull off a shock result.
Fair play to the visitors who prevented City from creating a goal attempt until the 25th minute when Rodri headed narrowly over from a corner.
City made the breakthrough after half an hour through their first incisive move of the match.
Raheem Sterling played a return pass with Joao Cancelo before cutting the ball back from the by-line for Gundogan to sweep home a shot from 10 yards, his third goal of the season but first in the Premier League since last December.
The spirited Baggies came close to equalising when Conor Gallagher curled an effort just wide of the upright with Ederson scampering across his goal.
And they were rewarded for their efforts with a leveller out of nowhere two minutes before the break.
A Matt Phillips free kick was cleared only for Romaine Sawyers to head it back towards goal with Semi Ajayi scuffed a shot of the turn which deflected off Ruben Dias and almost trickled past Ederson.
While central defender Ajayi claimed the strike, it was soon debited as a Dias own goal, the first City has conceded in 10hrs 8min in all competitions.
City had chances to regain the lead soon after the restart as Gabriel Jesus headed narrowly over and Sterling’s angled shot was well blocked by goalkeeper Sam Johnstone.
But they were struggling to make headway against a well organised Baggies’ defence, though Foden saw a spectacular overhead kick fly wide and Kevin De Bruyne’s close-range effort was kept out by Johnstone’s legs.
City, increasingly desperate for a breakthrough, made a double change with 15 minutes left as Mendy and Foden made way for Walker and Aguero.
Johnstone pulled off a great save low to his left to turn away a free kick from Kevin De Bruyne. It would have been tough on the Baggies as replays showed Gundogan was clearly not fouled.
There was drama in the four minutes of stoppage time when Johnstone pulled off two brilliant saves with his legs, each time to keep out headers from Gundogan and Sterling who each time were only six yards out while Gundogan’s free kick flashed into the side netting.