'It's not over' – Guardiola not giving up hope in Premier League title race

Pep Guardiola insisted the Premier League title race is not over yet, despite Manchester City falling nine points behind Arsenal after a 1-1 draw with West Ham.

City, who have now drawn their last two matches against sides fighting against relegation, are now nine points behind the Gunners, who beat Everton 2-0 in dramatic fashion earlier on Saturday.

Bernardo Silva had put City in front after catching out West Ham's defence with a tight-angled chip, but Konstantinos Mavropanos headed in an equaliser just four minutes later.

It was the 13th equalising goal Guardiola's side have conceded in the Premier League this season, their most ever in a single season in the competition.

The only team to win a Premier League title having ended the day at least nine points behind the top, having played 30 or more games, is City themselves in 2013-14 (nine points behind top on April 20 after 33 games).

Before the match, Guardiola claimed, "If we drop points, it [the Premier League title race] will be over", but he seemingly backtracked when questioned if their chances were over.

"Who said [the title race is over]? It's not over," Guardiola told TNT Sports. "We didn't lose. It's not over. We will continue.

"We have an incredible team, spirit, we had an incredible amount of effort in [the Champions League against Real] Madrid and how we played first half.

"More shape, and we put energy in the second half with incredibly talented players. 

"We are an incredible team. We play so well. The guys go and go until we can't continue. We didn't score enough goals when we had the quality to score. They punished us.

"Nine points is a lot against Arsenal, but it happened. We have the game at home, so we have to try until the end. When it is not possible, then we congratulate the champion, but we have to try."

After Saturday's results, Opta's supercomputer ranks Arsenal's chances of winning the title at 97.6%, with City coming out on top in just 2.4% of the model's simulations.

West Ham, meanwhile, moved out of the relegation zone after holding out for a point. Should Nottingham Forest fail to win on Sunday, the Hammers will remain outside of the bottom three.

It is the first time the Hammers have sat outside the relegation zone since December 2.

West Ham had just one shot against City, their joint-fewest in a Premier League match Opta has on record, while they were the first side to score with their only shot of a match since Ipswich Town, also against City, in a 4-1 loss in August 2024.

Nuno Espirito Santo's side faced 24 shots in total, worth 2.1 expected goals (xG), with Mads Hermansen making a string of fine saves and the defenders throwing bodies on the line.

"We feel OK. We knew it was a very tough match," Nuno told TNT Sports.

"I would say it was heroic the way we defended, the way we put our bodies on the line.

"Very proud. It's necessary, it's a need we have and keep on having – defending well. We didn't have too much today, but we had enough.

"We achieved something really important for us. The fans were with us. They go out of London Stadium proud of seeing their players suffering and doing everything they can."