Manchester City blew a halftime lead and turned Premier League title race control to Arsenal after a 3-3 draw with Everton at the Hill Dickinson Stadium on Monday.
City only gain a point in Week 35 and now trail Arsenal by five points with four matches left on their schedule and three left for the Gunners.
WATCH — Everton v Manchester City full match replay
Jeremy Doku scored the first and last goals of the game, but three Everton goals — two for Thierno Barry and one for Jake O’Brien — gave the hosts a 3-1 lead with under 10 minutes to play.
Erling Haaland made it 3-2 and Doku completed his brace in the seventh minute of stoppage time to salvage a point for City.
Everton move into 10th place with 48 points, below Chelsea and above Everton on goal differential.
City to find out if imperfect team can get avoid imperfect ending
Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City could realistically finish the Premier League season on a 16-match unbeaten run and still come up short of the title. And people would likely point to late season draws like this one, a thrilling, end-to-end scrap that could’ve finished anywhere from its 3-3 score line to 6-4 or 5-3 in either direction. Gianluigi Donnarumma was very good, Jeremy Doku a delight, and Rayan Cherki quite literally did some Lionel Messi things in the draw.
But the title will likely have been lost long before this, in a scoreless draw at Sunderland on New Year’s Day or any of the three matches that followed it. Or in the last-minute concession to Gabriel Martinelli that gave Arsenal a point at the Emirates in September. For all of the grief given to Mikel Arteta for his allegedly boring approach to the title race for much of this season, the Gunners don’t play many games that have a chance to finish 3-3. And so Man City have to hope Arsenal go cold on attack in the same game they make mistakes at the back. Good luck.
What’s next?
Man City host Brentford at 12:30pm ET Saturday, while Everton go to Palace at 9am Sunday.
Everton vs Man City final score: 3-3
Jeremy Doku 43', 90+7', Thierno Barry 68', 82', Jake O’Brien 73', Erling Haaland 83'
Everton vs Manchester City extended video highlights
Jeremy Doku goal — Everton 3-3 Man City
Another pearler, this one from the right foot at the very death.
Man City sub
Omar Marmoush replaces Bernardo Silva in the 87th.
Erling Haaland goal — Everton 3-2 Man City
Right from the kickoff.
Kovacic sends Haaland between the center backs.
David Moyes will be furious as Haaland slams home for 3-2.
Thierno Barry goal — Everton 3-1 Man City
City’s defending has fallen apart as Barry slots a partially-blocked shot from Everton.
Man City subs
Phil Foden and Mateo Kovacic go into the game to try and save something.
Antoine Semenyo and Nico Gonzalez give way.
Jake O’Brien goal — Everton 2-1 Man City
Everton win a corner and score, as Jake O’Brien bulls to the ball and heads home!
Thierno Barry goal — Everton 1-1 Man City
A horrible back pass from Marc Guehi leads to Thierno Barry finally solving Donnarumma, who had been fantastic.
The offside flag is up but VAR overrides that due to the back pass.
Things have changed, and Everton may be helping out old player Mikel Arteta and Arsenal.
Halftime — Everton 0-1 Man City
City have enjoyed 76% of the ball and have taken 13 shots to Everton’s two.
A second goal would effectively end this.
Michael Keane under review
Oh, he’s nowhere near the ball as he goes studs into the foot of Doku.
It’ll be a free kick and a yellow card but VAR review won’t upgrade it to red.
Jeremy Doku goal — Everton 0-1 Manchester City
A laser.
City were moving the ball almost at will but skipping the easy pass or the direct shot.
No more. Jeremy Doku takes his yard of space inside the 18 and spins an beauty across goal and inside the far post.
Bonafide Everton chance
Merlin Rohl drives the right and sends a low ball through the six.
Donnarumma gets low to get a piece of it, Beto tracks the rebound and blasts if off Abdukodir Khusanov and out for a corner,
Toffees finding more of the ball
Everton are pressing hard and keeping the ball when they manage to get it nearer to Gigio Donnarumma’s goal.
City had been able to set up residence in Everton’s third for the first 15 minutes but are finding it more difficult to there now.
0-0, 32'.
O’Reilly wins corner
Aside from (or including) a Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall counter attack this game has been what you were expecting from it.
City are living in the Everton third but cannot find the final ball. Antoine Semenyo, Nico O’Reilly, Erling Haaland, and Bernardo Silva are all active amongst others.
O’Reilly sees two attempts blocked, the second by Jordan Pickford for a corner that leads to a yearning pass through the six (left yearning).
0-0, 19'.
Everton lineup
Pickford, O’Brien, Tarkowski, Keane, Mykolenko, Iroegbunam, Garner, Rohl, Dewsbury-Hall, Ndiaye, Beto
Manchester City lineup
Donnarumma, Nunes, Khusanov, Guehi, O’Reilly, Nico, B. Silva, Semenyo, Cherki, Doku, Haaland
Everton vs Man City preview — by Joe Prince-Wright
Playing away at David Moyes’ Everton is one of the toughest remaining games for Pep Guardiola’s City to navigate, as Arsenal are ready to take advantage of any slight slip up from City. The Toffees lost 2-1 at West Ham last weekend as they chase European qualification but have suffered plenty of late heartbreak in recent games. Still, they’re having a fine season and are more than capable of putting a huge in City’s title hopes.
But this is Manchester City in May. Just like they always do, they’ve kicked on late in the season and know they if they win their remaining five games they will have a very good chance of winning the title as it will go down to goal difference if Arsenal also win out. City are six points behind Arsenal but have two games in-hand as the pressure is on. City are chasing the domestic treble as they already beat Arsenal in the League Cup final, have the slight advantage in the title race and are the heavy favorites to beat Chelsea in the FA Cup final on Saturday, May 16. But Guardiola’s side have plenty of midweek games between now and May 24 to navigate as they aim to get their rotation right.
Everton team news, focus
The Toffees are without Jarrad Branthwaite for the rest of the season, while Beto is fit to return after going through concussion protocol. Iliman Ndiaye and Kieran Dewsbury-Hall will look to make the most of the chances City give them on the counter.
Manchester City team news, focus
City’s only injury concerns are long-term absentees Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol at center back, while Rodri is a doubt. Semenyo, Cherki and Doku will line up behind Haaland up top and City look so slick and confident in attack right now.
Everton vs Manchester City prediction
This feels like one of those games where Everton will come flying out of the traps but Man City will surge back in the second half and probably score a late winner. Everton 1-2 Manchester City.
How to watch Everton vs Manchester City live, stream link and start time
Kick off time: 3pm ET Monday (May 4)
Venue: Hill Dickinson Stadium — Vauxhall, Liverpool
TV Channel: USA
Streaming: Watch on USA
