Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola insisted he was confident his side would turn things around in the second half against West Ham.
City were two down at the interval at the London Stadium after Jarrod Bowen scored twice for the Hammers.
The Premier League leaders hit back to draw 2-2, with Jack Grealish scoring four minutes after the restart and Vladmir Coufal heading Riyad Mahrez’s free-kick into his own net.
Keeper Lukasz Fabianski then saved Mahrez’s penalty to prevent City taking the lead.
Guardiola revealed at his post-match press conference that at half-time he had told his players they could get back into the game.
He explained: “I said that the goals can happen, that they (City) were playing really good, don’t give up, and if we score a goal we’ll be in the game.”
West Ham boss David Moyes acknowledged that City always looked capable of pulling off a comeback.
“Even at 2-0 up – even if we’d have been 4-0 up – I think I’d still have been thinking that Man City could come back, because they’re that good a team,” Moyes said.
“They’ve scored five against some teams, they’ve scored four against some teams, so you knew it was never going to be easy.”