Manchester City rescued a dramatic 3-3 draw at Everton on Monday night thanks to Jeremy Doku’s 97th-minute strike, but the result hands Arsenal control of the Premier League title race. Pep Guardiola’s side appeared to be cruising at the Hill Dickinson Stadium when Doku curled a brilliant opener into the top corner late in the first half, yet a second-half collapse saw them trail 3-1 before fighting back to claim a point.
Everton levelled in the 68th minute after Marc Guehi’s poor back pass was pounced on by substitute Thierno Barry, who finished coolly past Gianluigi Donnarumma. Moments later, Jake O’Brien powered home a header to put the Toffees 2-1 ahead and send the home crowd into wild celebrations. With City rattled, Merlin Rohl set up Barry for his second of the night in the 81st minute, leaving the champions stunned and staring at a damaging defeat.
Erling Haaland pulled one back in the 83rd minute to give City hope, and Doku completed his brace with the final kick of the game, rifling home in the seventh minute of stoppage time to make it 3-3. The result means Arsenal now sit five points clear at the top of the table, with City having just one game in hand. Three wins will be enough for the Gunners to secure a first league title in 22 years.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Guardiola said: “Really good performance. We played an outstanding first half. Second half, they made a step up. We didn’t have as much control and we gave away the goal. After that they come back and make a proper English game, so aggressive in the duels. It’s not in our hands now. Before it was in our hands. Now, no. We have to do it in our four games that we have in the Premier League.”
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Arsenal legend Thierry Henry told Monday Night Football: “Now it’s back in Arsenal’s hands. It’s not in Man City’s hands anymore. I saw a bit of nervousness with City because they
imploded. They brought Everton back into the game with some mistakes. Arsenal can see that Man City dropped two points, but you can’t start to think, ‘Now, maybe…’ There’s no maybe. Win your games.”
For Everton, it was another late blow as David Moyes remains without a win against Guardiola in 16 attempts. The Toffees have now dropped points in stoppage time in three straight Premier League matches, a run that could prove costly in the race for Europe. Moyes said: “We let ourselves down because we defended the second goal so poorly. But at half-time we would have certainly taken this result because we were hugely outplayed in the first half. So maybe a bit disappointed but getting a point against Manchester City is not a bad result.”
Moyes also questioned a first-half incident where Bernardo Silva appeared to haul down Merlin Rohl in the box, saying: “If that doesn’t get given as a penalty then it’s an absolute free-for-all from now on. I’m absolutely amazed.” Michael Keane escaped a red card after a VAR check for an over-the-top challenge on Doku, with Guardiola saying only: “What can I say? Yellow card.”
City remain in the fight but their vulnerability was clear, while Everton showed huge character in the second half. The Premier League title race remains alive, but Arsenal now have the advantage with four games to go.
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