City held by Hammers

Manchester City's season ended with a whimper as they were held to a 1-1 draw by West Ham at Upton Park.

Wright-Phillips header cancels out Boa Morte strike

Manchester City's season ended with a whimper as they were held to a 1-1 draw by West Ham at Upton Park. The hosts took the lead against the run of play after an Alessandro Diamanti back-heel played in Luis Boa Morte, who slid home coolly to score on his return from injury. But City responded almost instantly as Shaun Wright-Phillips rose superbly to head home Adam Johnson's cross. Diamanti then nearly fired the Hammers back ahead but his effort from the edge of the area was deflected wide by the foot of the post. Neither team managed to seize the initiative in the second half, with substitute Guillermo Franco squandering a good chance by firing straight at Marton Fulop late on. Patrick Vieira replaced the injured Gareth Barry while Sylvinho, Roque Santa Cruz and Wright-Phillips all came into the team following the midweek defeat to Tottenham, which had cost City a shot at UEFA Champions League qualification.

Early efforts

In the opening stages, West Ham found some early space in behind Vieira and Ilan almost picked out Carlton Cole with a looping ball over the City defence before Boa Morte skewed a 25-yard shot wide. Wright-Phillips cut open the West Ham defence with a pass in behind Julien Faubert but Sylvinho's whipped cross was just too high for Santa Cruz. Faubert then tested the City defence with a wicked free-kick, which Vincent Kompany did well to clear at the last second, before Diamanti created the opening goal. The Italian's crafty back-heel sent Boa Morte clean through on goal and the Portuguese winger clipped the ball over advancing City goalkeeper Fulop. But City were back on level terms within three minutes as a far-post header from the diminutive Wright-Phillips found the net after Johnson had dug out a right-wing cross. Johnson was making the most of his opportunity to impress and he drew strong penalty shouts from Manchester City after cutting dangerously into the box. The 22-year-old beat Fabio Daprela and Radoslav Kovac before going down under a challenge from Matthew Upson, but referee Howard Webb was convinced the West Ham defender had got a touch on the ball. Diamanti worked space for himself outside the City box after a driving run from Ilan and drilled a low shot which just clipped the outside of Fulop's right-hand post.

Attack

But City were soon back on the attack and Johnson teed-up Emmanuel Adebayor, who forced Green into a smart reaction save. Santa Cruz met Johnson's subsequent corner with a clean header and should have hit the target from the edge of the six-yard box, but his effort fell wide. Wright-Phillips caused a scare for the Hammers early in the second half when he cut in from the left wing before trying his luck from 25 yards but the shot flew harmlessly over. Diamanti tried an acrobatic strike before Parker forced the ball to Ilan, who found himself clean through on the keeper with an excellent chance to put West Ham ahead but Fulop was quickly off his line to block the shot. Sylvinho jinked his way past two defenders and into the box but Manuel Da Costa blocked his path. Santa Cruz rifled a shot over the bar before Pablo Zabaleta's dangerous run into the box was also blocked by Da Costa. Carlos Tevez received a standing ovation when he came off the bench and almost marked his return to Upton Park with a goal but his cute attempt to lift the ball over Green came down on the roof of the net. But the game had lost its spark and both sides rounded off their seasons with a point.

West Ham United	Team Statistics	Manchester City
1	Goals	1
1	1st Half Goals	1
6	Shots on Target	4
4	Shots off Target	10
3	Blocked Shots	4
4	Corners	3
13	Fouls	7
1	Offsides	3
2	Yellow Cards	0
0	Red Cards	0
72.5	Passing Success	86.2
30	Tackles	24
63.3	Tackles Success	75
35.5	Possession	64.5
49.8	Territorial Advantage	50.2