Manchester City dropped important points in the Premier League title race after being held to a 1–1 draw by West Ham United on Saturday at the London Stadium.
City took the lead in the first half when Bernardo Silva scored with a clever chip. However, West Ham responded a few minutes later when former Arsenal defender Konstantinos Mavropanos headed the ball into the net from a corner.
The goal came after City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma failed to clear the corner properly, allowing Mavropanos to finish from close range.
Advertisement
West Ham goalkeeper Mads Hermansen also played a big role in the result. He made four important saves and controlled his area well to stop City from scoring again.
Manchester City dominated the match and finished with 21 shots, while West Ham managed just one attempt on goal. Despite the pressure, the home side held on to earn a valuable point.
The draw means City are now nine points behind league leaders Arsenal, although Pep Guardiola’s team still have a game in hand and another league match to play against the Gunners.
Advertisement
West Ham’s point also moved them one place up the table, just above Nottingham Forest in the standings.
Manchester City will now turn their attention to the UEFA Champions League, where they face Real Madrid in the second leg of their tie on Tuesday. They will also meet Arsenal in the EFL Cup Final at Wembley Stadium on March 22.
West Ham will play their next league match away against Aston Villa on March 22.
“We changed to make the players more dynamic, with Rayan, Jeremy [Doku] and Phil [Foden],” Guardiola told his post-match news conference. “But we could not win the game.
“We could be more aggressive in the first half maybe, but with the creativity, the crosses and dribbles this season, we are struggling. The team, they did everything, but they need to be better in the final third, and it has happened in many games this season.”
Asked about picking Semenyo over Cherki as number 10, he said: “Absolutely, for that role there is no-one better than [Cherki]. That is bad selection, you can criticise me, I deserve it.
“Sometimes for the balance, we are learning. We played Cherki and Haaland – incredible, but we do not have the stability teams in the Premier League must have. I try to handle that, and the team is still growing.
Advertisement
“Rayan’s impact off the bench is unbelievable, but sometimes he does not have the pace so we play Semenyo. I am still finding the best way to have stability and to balance the team.”
Haaland’s form is thrown into sharp focus by the fact he struggled against West Ham, a team against who he has scored 11 Premier League goals – more than any other side.
“It’s not about the lack of goals,” Guardiola said of the Norway striker. “We need to create more. He will be back.”
City cannot win well, and they struggle to win ugly too.
Advertisement
They have only lost once in their past 18 league matches, but during that period they have given up 10 points from winning positions – enough to cost them first place in the current standings.
Given the latter came a couple of hours after Arsenal, starring Max Dowman, spectacularly dug out victory over Everton, this one will sting.
Guardiola laughed it off afterwards, saying he had been having a beer pre-match rather than following the Arsenal match with his team, as he served a touchline ban.
Advertisement
He also joked he would look to get more yellow cards as he preferred the view from the stands – and light-heartedly batted away a question on whether Haaland was limping.
It felt like if Guardiola didn’t laugh, he would cry.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola spoke about what next for the team in their Premier League title race with Arsenal
22:36, 14 Mar 2026Updated 22:37, 14 Mar 2026
Advertisement
Pep Guardiola insisted his Manchester City team will fight Arsenal with everything they have left in the race for the Premier League title. The Blues dropped points for the second successive match with a 1-1 draw leaving them nine points off top spot with a game in hand.
Arsenal had left it late to beat Everton on Saturday night and broke the deadlock as City were going through their final preparations at West Ham. Bernardo Silva gave City the lead in the capital but some poor defending allowed the home team to level with a corner and Guardiola’s side were unable to get back in front.
City’s manager had suggested on Friday that the race would be over if they did not win at West Ham, but had a new reality after the draw at the London Stadium. As jubilant as Arsenal will be at another excellent day for them, they will go to bed knowing City will not roll over.
Get MEN Premium now for just £1 HERE – or get involved in our City WhatsApp group by clicking HERE. You can also join our City Facebook page by clicking HERE and don’t miss out on our brilliant selection of newsletters HERE.
Advertisement
“No. It’s not over. Because we didn’t lose. No, it’s not over. We continue,” Guardiola told TNT Sports. “We have an incredible team, spirit, we fought after an incredible amount of effort in Madrid with the result. How we played the first half with the shape, more control for the quality of players and about the energy in the second half with incredibly talented players. The last two games with Nottingham Forest we played much better, we are an incredible team. We played so good and until the end we continue.
Asked at the end of his interview if the title race was still on, he said: “Now we rest and I don’t know how many days off I will give and prepare Madrid and I ask to our people these guys deserve it. Nine points is a lot against Arsenal but we have a game in hand, we have the game at home (against Arsenal), we have to try it until the end. When it is not possible we congratulate the champion.”
Guardiola was left to rue another display where City hadn’t made the most of the chances they had created while letting in a goal from a rare defensive lapses. The manager thinks a lack of goals has cost them – especially in the second half of the season – as he reeled off a handful of games where they have been punished despite being the better team.
“We didn’t score enough goals when we had the quality to score and they scored and punished us,” he said. “We always had the ability to score a lot of goals – I don’t know how many times we scored five goals in 10 years – and this season we had chances: Sunderland, Brighton at home, Chelsea at home, today, Nottingham Forest.
Advertisement
“Except two games, Arsenal away and United away, we didn’t deserve anything. The rest, we deserved better but we didn’t score enough goals. That punished us this season.”
Josh Emmett and Kevin Vallejos square off in a bout between rising stars in the featherweight division. Main card action starts at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT on Sportsnet 360 and Sportsnet+.
Ireland U20s play Scotland at Virgin Media Park in Cork on Sunday, with a 3.15pm kick-off.
The game will be broadcast live on RTÉ 2.
With three consecutive victories this spring, Ireland are bidding to finish their Championship on a high against the Scots.
Head Coach Andrew Browne has named an unchanged backline from last weekend’s victory over Wales.
Advertisement
Noah Byrne, Derry Moloney and Daniel Ryan continue in Ireland’s back three.
James O’Leary and Rob Carney are the centres, with scrum-half Christopher Barrett once again partnering out-half Tom Wood in the half-backs.
In the pack, Max Doyle, Duinn Maguire and captain Sami Bishti are in the front row. Joe Finn and Donnacha McGuire are named in the engine room. Josh Neill continues at blindside flanker, Ben Blaney is named at openside and Diarmaid O’Connell completes the Ireland starting team at number eight.
On the Ireland U20 bench, Lee Fitzpatrick, Christian Foley, Luke Murtagh, Dylan McNeice, Billy Hayes, James O’Dwyer, Charlie O’Shea and Johnny O’Sullivan are the replacements named.
Advertisement
Ireland U20s Team
15. Noah Byrne, 14. Derry Moloney, 13. Rob Carney, 12. James O’Leary, 11. Daniel Ryan, 10. Tom Wood, 9. Christopher Barrett.
1. Max Doyle, 2. Duinn Maguire, 3. Sami Bishti (captain), 4. Joe Finn, 5. Donnacha McGuire, 6. Josh Neill, 7. Ben Blaney, 8. Diarmaid O’Connell.
Ireland U20s Replacements
16. Lee Fitzpatrick, 17. Christian Foley, 18. Luke Murtagh, 19. Dylan McNeice, 20. Billy Hayes, 21. James O’Dwyer, 22. Charlie O’Shea, 23. Johnny O’Sullivan.
Speaking to FightHype, former multi-weight ruler Roy Jones Jr backed Haney quite clearly, though did warn of Romero’s ‘abnormal’ power, making a rare comparison to British enigma ‘Prince’ Naseem Hamed.
“Rolly’s only chance is if he can get lucky and hit Haney, which I doubt he can do. I think Haney beats him, but Rolly does have a puncher’s chance. What people fail to realise is Rolly is not your everyday, average boxer, but he has abnormal punching power. He hits anybody, he can knock them out. He’s like Prince Naseem, just not quite as skillful as Prince Naseem. Same kind of punching power, though.
“His boxing IQ ain’t the best, that’s why they underestimate him, but his punching power is beyond best. It’s abnormal … It makes it kind of balance out.”
Romero’s confidence will be boosted by the fact that when Haney faced Garcia, he was dropped three times and suffered a points loss on the night. However, the result was later overturned to a no contest after Garcia tested positive for a banned substance.
The winner of this match-up, should Bill Haney’s assurance come good, sets up a rematch with Garcia, who won the WBC belt from Mario Barrios last month.
Saturday night brings a top-half clash in Liga MX as Cruz Azul and Pumas UNAM will meet. As their midfield has gotten settled, Cruz Azul have risen close to the top of Liga MX alongside steady performances, winning seven consecutive matches in all competitions since drawing against Toluca in February. With only seven matchdays remaining in the Clausura portion of the season, the race for playoff seeding will begin, and this is a match where that battle takes center stage.
How to watch Pumas vs. Cruz Azul, odds
Date: Saturday, March 14 | Time: 11:10 p.m.
Location: Estadio Olímpico Universitario — Mexico City, Mexico
With Pedro Vite and Adalberto Carrasquilla and Pumas facing off with Agustin Palavecino and Cruz Azul, this match is going to be a showcase of midfield power. Any ball that’s played to the wrong place will immediately head the other way and turn into a chance, but when you have a maestro like this in midfield, it’s easy to see why Cruz Azul are leading the league right now.
CBS Sports
Palavecino does everything well on the attacking end and is able to ensure that Cruz keep ticking over. With his skill, he’ll be impossible to mark out of the game, but Pumas will need to find a way. Teams like Cruz Azul are the sides that they’ll need to push by to show that they’re actual contenders. The team are improving, but to take the next step, they have to defeat the top of the table sides, and there’s no better chance than hosting them at home.
The rivalry between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese got some new fuels Friday.
A clip is making the rounds of Clark ignoring Reese’s gesture for a high-five during a game for the FIBA World Cup qualifiers. As Reese held her hand out for her Team USA teammate, Clark walked in the other direction.
Reese taunted Clark by pointing to her ring finger during the game, prompting outrage and sparking an ongoing feud between fans.
Clark’s Iowa Hawkeyes got revenge on Reese’s LSU Tigers a year later in the Elite Eight, but the tension hit a whole new level when the players reached the pros for their rookie WNBA seasons.
LSU’s Angel Reese, right, reacts in front of Iowa’s Caitlin Clark during the second half of the NCAA national championship April 2, 2023, in Dallas.(AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, File)
In their first WNBA season in 2024, Clark took a series of questionable fouls from Reese’s Sky throughout the 2024 season, including one from Reese June 16.
In 2025, the two had a heated exchange after Reese pushed Fever forward Natasha Howard in the back as she grabbed an offensive rebound off a miss by teammate Rebecca Allen. Reese brought the ball low, and Clark fouled her before she went up for a shot. Reese fell to the ground.
Reese got up from the floor and got into the face of Clark.
Advertisement
Referees reviewed the play and determined Clark used her left hand to shove Reese to the floor. They upgraded the personal foul on Clark to a flagrant foul. And Reese and Aliyah Boston of the Fever were issued technical fouls.
Angel Reese (5) of the Chicago Sky and Caitlin Clark (22) of the Indiana Fever during the second half June 23, 2024, at Wintrust Arena in Chicago.(Melissa Tamez/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
“Nothing malicious about it, just a good take foul,” Clark told ESPN’s Holly Rowe.
Now, the two stars are teammates for the U.S. as they try to make the FIBA World Cup, but fans can probably still sense an awkward dynamic between them.
Jackson Thompson is a sports reporter for Fox News Digital covering critical political and cultural issues in sports, with an investigative lens. Jackson’s reporting has been cited in federal government actions related to the enforcement of Title IX, and in legacy media outlets including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Associated Press and ESPN.com.
Manchester City were unable to match Arsenal’s home win against Everton in the Premier League title race
Manchester City were held to a 1-1 draw by West Ham in the Premier League, denting their title hopes after Arsenal’s earlier 2-0 win over Everton. Bernardo Silva scored the opening goal for the visitors but that was later cancelled out by Konstantinos Mavropanos.
Prior to City’s game, Arsenal had the chance to extend their lead over City to 10 points and did so courtesy of the late strikes from double substitutes Viktor Gyokeres and Max Dowman. However, City’s game at the London Stadium was one of City’s two games in hand over the Gunners.
Advertisement
The other fixture is a rescheduled match against Crystal Palace.
With nine points now separating the sides, the Manchester Evening News has taken a look at City’s upcoming fixtures and how they compare to those of their title rivals, Arsenal.
Manchester City’s next six fixtures in all competitions
April 7 – Potential Champions League quarter-final first leg
Bournemouth (H) – April 11 – Premier League
April 14 – Potential Champions League quarter-final second leg.
Advertisement
Up next for the Citizens is the second leg of their round‑of‑16 tie against Real Madrid, where Pep Guardiola’s side trail 3-0 and need to turn the result around to keep their Champions League hopes alive.
The goal gave Connor his eighth 30-goal campaign, passing Ilya Kovalchuk for the most in Jets/Thrashers franchise history.
Alex Iafallo and Cole Perfetti, with an empty-netter, also scored for the Jets (27-28-10), who rebounded from back-to-back regulation losses to salvage a critical two points in their pursuit of a playoff spot. Mark Scheifele picked up two assists, including his 51st to set a new personal single-season record for helpers.
Connor Hellebuyck lost his shutout bid late in the third but put forth a solid 28-save performance for the win.
Martin Necas broke the shutout at 18:44 of the third period with his 31st goal for the Avalanche (44-12-9), who saw their season-high six-game road winning streak snapped. Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar assisted on the play.
Advertisement
Mackenzie Blackwood made 15 saves in the loss for the Avalanche.
Avalanche defenceman Brent Burns played in his 990th consecutive NHL game, surpassing Keith Yandle for the second-longest Iron Man streak in league history. Phil Kessel has the longest streak, at 1,064 consecutive games.
Jets: Winnipeg moved back into the win column to salvage a shot at a playoff spot, backed by a strong defensive effort against an Avalanche attack that entered the day leading the NHL with 3.80 goals per game.
Avalanche: Necas extended his goal streak to three games. He has now found the back of the net in each of Colorado’s last six road games.
Advertisement
Connor broke a scoreless deadlock at 2:05 of the second period, firing home his 30th goal of the year to ignite the Winnipeg offence and set a new franchise benchmark.
Connor has reached the 30-goal mark in every season of his nine-year NHL career except for the 56-game COVID-19 shortened campaign.
Jets: Host the St. Louis Blues on Sunday.
Avalanche: Host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday.
India women’s hockey team (Photo by @TheHockeyIndia)
NEW DELHI: India’s women’s hockey team finished runners-up in the FIH Hockey World Cup Qualifiers after losing 0–2 to England on Saturday. Despite the defeat, India still secured qualification for this year’s Women’s Hockey World Cup. England, ranked sixth in the world, showed their quality by scoring once in the first quarter and again in the third.India actually started the match strongly and created an early opportunity when Navneet Kaur won a penalty corner within the first two minutes. However, the attempt was saved by the England goalkeeper. The Indian side continued to push forward in the opening half and managed several circle penetrations, but they were unable to seriously trouble the opposition goalkeeper.England gradually settled into the game and took the lead in the 13th minute through Grace Balsdon, who successfully converted a penalty corner with a drag-flick. India kept trying to break through the English defence, but England stayed disciplined and organised at the back, maintaining their one-goal lead going into halftime.With the advantage, England controlled possession in the second half and dictated the pace of the match. Their second goal came in the 43rd minute when Elizabeth Neal struck from open play. Her shot took a deflection off an Indian defender before going past goalkeeper Bichu Devi, doubling England’s lead.India kept attacking in the final quarter and even earned a late penalty corner, but they were unable to convert it. England remained confident and avoided sitting back defensively, preventing India from mounting a comeback.Along with champion England and runner-up India, Scotland also qualified for the World Cup after defeating Italy 1–0. The upcoming Women’s Hockey World Cup will be jointly hosted by the Netherlands and Belgium from August 14 to 30 alongside the men’s tournament.
