LIVERPOOL, England — A dramatic 97th-minute goal from Jeremy Doku rescued a 3-3 draw for Manchester City away to Everton in a crucial Monday night Premier League clash, but a shocking second-half defensive collapse has shifted the title race destiny firmly into Arsenal’s hands. The Gunners now stand on the cusp of ending their 20-year wait for an English top-flight crown, needing only to win all three of their remaining fixtures to secure the championship.
Currently five points behind Arsenal’s lead, Pep Guardiola’s side hold one game in hand but face an uphill battle to retain their crown after their implosion at Goodison Park (officially the Hill Dickinson Stadium) on Monday. City looked set to cruise to three points after a dominant first half that ended with Doku opening the scoring, but a string of uncharacteristic basic mistakes let the hosts storm to a 3-1 lead, with young striker Thierno bagging a brace and defender Jake O’Brien adding a second with a headed goal from a corner.
Erling Haaland pulled one back for City immediately after Everton’s third, before Doku’s sensational late long-range strike snatched a point that keeps the defending champions in the race, albeit as outsiders now. “It’s better than losing. It shows what type of team we have,” Guardiola said of his side’s late fightback after the full-time whistle. “The title wasn’t in our hands before? Wait — before this game it was, now it is not. We still have games left to play, and we will see what happens going forward.”
Arsenal’s remaining fixtures see them travel to face relegation-battling West Ham United this coming Sunday, before hosting already-relegated Burnley and closing out the season with an away trip to Crystal Palace. The Gunners have picked up six points from two games since City’s last league outing, steadily building the pressure on Guardiola’s men ahead of Monday’s crunch clash.
City’s first team entered the match having not played a full competitive fixture in nearly two weeks, after Guardiola made sweeping changes to his line-up for last weekend’s FA Cup semi-final victory over Southampton. Contrary to fears of rustiness, the visitors looked sharp from kick-off, pinning Everton deep inside their own half for virtually the entire opening 45 minutes.
The breakthrough finally came two minutes before half-time, when Rayan Cherki slid a pass into Doku, who curled a clinical finish past Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford into the top right corner of the net. Before the break, Everton escaped any greater damage when Michael Keane avoided a red card for a reckless lunging tackle on Doku, receiving only a yellow card — a decision that would prove pivotal to the final outcome.
The second half quickly unravelled for City, who failed to clear repeated warnings of an incoming Everton equaliser. City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma parried an effort from Iliman Ndiaye back into the penalty area, but Merlin Rohl failed to capitalize on the loose rebound. Ndiaye later squandered another clear chance created by a Matheus Nunes error, unable to beat the big Italian goalkeeper a second time.
When Everton’s equaliser did arrive, it was gifted by City’s own defensive lapse: a underhit backpass from Marc Guehi put Barry one-on-one with Donnarumma, and the striker calmly slotted home to level the score. Just moments later, another careless mistake from City handed the hosts their second goal. Abdukodir Khusanov was caught in possession by Ndiaye, and though Guehi made a last-ditch tackle to stop the initial chance, O’Brien rose highest at the resulting corner to nod Everton into the lead.
A rapid Everton counter-attack soon extended their advantage, with Barry poking home his second from a deflected Rohl cross to put the hosts 3-1 up, leaving City’s title hopes hanging by a thread. But within seconds of the restart, City pulled one back: Mateo Kovacic played a perfectly weighted through ball to Haaland, who made no mistake to cut the deficit to one goal.
In stoppage time, Doku struck a sensational effort to level the score, dashing Everton’s hopes of claiming a huge three points that would have boosted their own push for European qualification next season. Yet for City, the late point may prove too little, too late to stop Arsenal from ending their long title drought and claiming the Premier League crown that City have held for four consecutive seasons, as they chase a seventh domestic championship in nine years.