LONDON, March 14 (Reuters) - Manchester City face an uphill struggle to regain their Premier League crown after dropping points again in a 1-1 draw at West Ham United on Saturday, but coach Pep Guardiola insisted his side would not give up on trying to reel in leaders Arsenal.
About an hour before kickoff at the London Stadium, to the north of the capital Arsenal were struggling to break down Everton and seemed to be giving City a golden opportunity to cut the gap at the top.
But a late Arsenal victory was followed by a tepid performance from City, who for all their possession and passing could only score once against a West Ham side fighting for Premier League survival.
The result leaves City nine points off Arsenal with eight games to play, though with a game in hand and a potentially key clash against their closest rivals at Etihad Stadium next month.
Guardiola himself had suggested the title race could be over if City dropped points against West Ham, but when that was put to him he asked: "Who said?"
When he was reminded he had said it, Guardiola told TNT Sports: "No, it's not over -- because we did not lose."
Guardiola accepted, however, that City's lack of cutting edge was what had cost them once more this season.
"They did everything, they fought, 24 shots, I don't know how many," Guardiola told reporters. "We had to be better in the final third, we didn't do it and that's all."
City have lost just once in their last 18 Premier League games, but have dropped 10 points from winning positions in that run, including two in their previous league game against struggling Nottingham Forest.
Arsenal have finished as runners-up for three seasons in a row, the first two times to a City side that seemed to be able to find a way to win, especially in the run-in.
But that quality has deserted Guardiola's side, who just do not have their old aura of invincibility.
"The consistency that we had in the past, this season we didn't get it," Guardiola conceded.
(Reporting by Sam Tobin, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
