West Ham were forced to settle for a point in what was one of the most dramatic games of the season against Manchester City on Sunday.
The Hammers had a 2-0 lead going into half-time thanks to a Jarrod Bowen brace but City fought back in the second half to level proceedings and take a 2-2 draw back to Manchester.
However, Lukasz Fabianski ended the game as the hero of the hour, as he saved Riyad Mahrez’s penalty in the 85th minute.
On a day that was set to be packed with emotion due to Mark Noble making his farewell, this was a game absolutely packed with incident.
The Irons could have conceded a penalty after just 13 minutes, as Kurt Zouma appeared to trip Gabriel Jesus in the box, but the referee and VAR didn’t see anything wrong with the challenge.
And Bowen made it 1-0 on 23 minutes. The winger was sent through by a long ball from Pablo Fornals and rounded Ederson, before finishing from an acute angle.
Bowen had his brace on the brink of half-time, as a Fabianski punt was flicked on by Tomas Soucek, and Mikey Antonio managed to chip the ball into Bowen’s path. He sprinted to the edge of the box and finished brilliantly.
City, though, came out like a different side in the second half and had a goal back within two minutes. Jack Grealish managed to volley a Rodri header into the ground and beyond Fabianski.
Both Bowen and Antonio had superb chances to add a third for the Hammers after some uncharacteristic defensive errors from City, but they could not find the back of the net.
City actually needed an own goal to level it up and it was Vlad Coufal who was the scorer. A brilliant free-kick was whipped in and Coufal attacked it, inadvertently sending it beyond Fabianski.
Bowen saw another effort deflected wide before Noble came on to make his farewell on the pitch.
High drama was yet to come when City were awarded a penalty after Dawson fouled Jesus in the box.
Riyad Mahrez stepped up to take it but his spot-kick was weak and Fabianski made a superb save to deny him.
A point for the Hammers, and what could be a blow to City’s hopes of winning the Premier League title.
What a game of football.
Valiant display today by West Ham in the face of £billionaire City who have looked unstoppable recently… even if Andy Taylor did as much as he could to aid Citeh.
A terrific finale to a brilliant season and our stadium finally comes of age. Even the often critical media thought the atmostphere was great, all it took was a decent team!