Unbalanced Man City cling to faint title hopes as Haaland struggles
· BBC SportByEmma Smith
BBC Sport journalist at London Stadium
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With eight matches remaining, including a game in hand on leaders Arsenal - who still have to go to Etihad Stadium - it would be premature to say Manchester City's Premier League title race is over.
But Saturday evening, when Arsenal earned a dramatic late win over Everton before City were held at West Ham, felt as if it could be pivotal.
Not only because City are nine points behind the Gunners with only one game in hand, but because they looked wholly unconvincing in their draw at London Stadium.
After the game, City manager Pep Guardiola admitted he is still trying to find "balance" in his squad while talismanic striker Erling Haaland scrabbles for form.
Not the position any major team want to find themselves in, least of all after their 30th league game.
And their problems are summed up by the form of the man on whom they have so often been able to rely.
In his first 17 league games this season, Haaland scored 19 goals. In his past 12 matches, he has netted only three.
Haaland's drop in form has coincided with the arrival of Antoine Semenyo. With the former Bournemouth winger having hit the ground running since his move in January, Guardiola has changed his system to try to get the best out of all the attacking talents at his disposal.
This has included moving to a two-man attack, a tactic Guardiola almost never used in his first 10 years at City but has deployed as the starting formation in nine of their past 11 games.
At West Ham, City lined up with Haaland and Omar Marmoush as a front two with Semenyo playing as a number 10 - and it simply did not work as they dominated possession but were shut down by the massed ranks of West Ham defenders.
City lacked any intensity in the first half, perhaps an impact of the comprehensive midweek Champions League defeat at Real Madrid - both physically and mentally.
After the break, City switched to a 4-3-3 with Semenyo and Marmoush as wingers. Early in the second half, Rayan Cherki came on as an attacking midfielder and chances flowed.
Haaland was only denied by a fine Mads Hermansen save, and City ended the game with 24 shots on goal.
But they could not find a winner, and Guardiola admitted he had got things wrong.
'That is bad selection, you can criticise me'
"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.
"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.
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.
In games where they were winning, they have drawn with Chelsea, Brighton, Tottenham, Nottingham Forest and now West Ham.
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.
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.
'Man City looked a bit desperate'
"That will have hurt them seeing the [Arsenal v] Everton game unfold," former Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart told BBC Match of the Day.
"Man City created a lot of chances but looked a bit desperate towards the end."
A Premier League title winner himself, Hart knows Man City should not and will not give up as they aim to deny Arsenal a first league title in 22 years.
"It's so difficult but [City] have a game in hand, this game at home against Arsenal. I'm not saying it will be easy to beat them but there is hope. Always, you have to be there," he added.
For now, City will have to stew on the league table for nearly a month.
After the second leg against Real, they face the Gunners in the League Cup final next Sunday, then after the international break face Liverpool in the FA Cup quarter-finals.
City's next league game is not until 12 April against Chelsea - then, seven days later, is the big meeting with Arsenal.
There, surely, we will learn whether City have any hope in the title race - and whether Guardiola has restored their "balance".