Mahrez misses penalty as Manchester City survive West Ham United scare

Riyad Mahrez missed a penalty in Manchester City’s 2-2 draw with West Ham United in Sunday’s Premier League outing.

With VAR adjudging that Craig Dawson had fouled Gabriel Jesus in the 86th minute, the Algeria international stepped up to take the ensuing kick.

Unfortunately, goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski was at his best to keep out Mahrez’s penalty as the Citizens left London Stadium with a point.

The 31-year-old has now missed two penalties in all competitions for Manchester City – his first against Liverpool in October 2018, and his most recent attempt against West Ham.

The former Africa Player of the Year converted nine consecutive penalties in between.

In the keenly contested encounter, Jarrod Bowen put David Moyes’ men ahead in the 24th minute after he was picked out by Pablo Fornals.

Despite a positive response from the Etihad Stadium giants, they were unable to restore parity with profligacy in front of goal their major undoing.

On the stroke of half-time, the Hammers doubled their advantage as Bowen completed his brace. This time, it was Michail Antonio who turned provider.

Knowing that defeat would hurt their title bid, Pep Guardiola’s side came out strong in the second half and that paid off in the 49th minute as Jack Grealish reduced the deficit.

Vladimir Coufal’s own goal in the 69th minute ensured that City drew level before a miss from the penalty mark denied them an away victory.

For his part in the result, Mahrez contributed three shots, three key passes, 69 touches, 45 passes, and a passing accuracy of 86.7 per cent.

Also, he did not add any value to the Citizens defensively with statistics showing he scored zero judging by the number of tackles, interceptions, clearances, and blocked shots in the game.

While Arthur Masuaku was an unused substitute for the Hammers, Morocco’s Said Benrahma as well as Senegal prospect Issa Diop did not make the squad due to contrasting reasons.

Even with the result, Manchester City moved four points clear of Liverpool with one game to play although the Reds still have a game in hand.

They welcome Aston Villa to the Etihad Stadium on the final day, while West Ham United are guests of Brighton and Hove Albion.