LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - MAY 4: Everton manager David Moyes and his players look dejected after the Premier League match between Everton and Manchester City at Hill Dickinson Stadium on May 4, 2026 in Liverpool, United Kingdom. (Photo by Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)
Everton manager David Moyes and his players look dejected after the Premier League match with Manchester City at Hill Dickinson Stadium on May 4, 2026(Image: Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)
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There were boos at the start and there were boos at the end. All with the same target in mind. When Manchester City attacked in the seventh minute of the six added on, the whole stadium was prepared for Michael Oliver’s whistle. It did not come.
Instead, one more attack was allowed to develop. One more corner. And one more moment of brilliance from Jeremy Doku. The away side needed it. It was a goal that just about keeps their Premier League title hopes alive.
It was a valuable point for Everton’s European dreams too. But it could have been so much more. It should have been so much more. There is an argument they deserved for it to be so much more. Yet this match ended in anger and frustration, not celebration. After maintaining the loud boos for the league’s handshake at the start of the game the home supporters raised the decibels at the end as a chorus of ‘Premier League, corrupt as f***’ echoed around a stadium that was built for the atmosphere those in Royal Blue created in a stunning second half.
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Some of the disappointment was over the timing of the equaliser but David Moyes anger, which took him onto the pitch at the end, was reserved for the failure to award a penalty when Merlin Rohl went down in the box under pressure at a corner from Bernando SIlva, who had his hands all over the recalled Blues midfielder.
Just like in the last three matches however, the disappointment arising must include an acknowledgement of Everton’s own mistakes. They wrestled control of this game then surrendered it by switching off after going 3-1 up. A stoppage-time goal proved costly for a third consecutive fixture. They scored three but missed two one-on-ones. This team has rocked between brilliance and calamity all season and, while they deserve to take a huge dose of pride from their fightback, this match saw the pendulum swing in both directions.
When the whistle did come, Blues boss was not happy. He accepted time was to be added on after he made three substitutions in stoppage time but believed there was no need to add 30 seconds on for the last one given his player, Tim Iroegbunam, was off the pitch injured.
His bigger concern, the one he took to the officials on the final whistle, was over the failure to award a penalty for a perceived foul on Rohl during a corner. “If that doesn’t get given, it is an absolute free-for-all from now on,” he bristled afterwards.
His pre-match comments will cover his expectations over what will happen next. After Everton flagged a string of poor decisions against them last weekend he was less than satisfied with the response, he revealed on Friday. His protests will get no further this time.
The officials have spoken to him about the penalty decision. On the timing of the goal that made it 3-3, they will point out the additional seconds were justified by the late substitutions.
Everton did make three in stoppage time, the last of which was Harrison Armstrong for Iroegbunam, a change that had to be made as the midfielder’s body lay heaving next to the advertising board he clattered into after a late block. He, like Rohl and James Garner, was everywhere as the Blues turned this game on its head with an extraordinary second-half performance that came seconds from delivering three points.
The Blues will look back with annoyance at how easily City players went down and stayed down when they thought they were going to eek out a win.
Moyes’ side had entered the break a goal behind and with a tough challenge ahead of them. They had battled their way back into a contest that the visitors started brightly and looked set to take it into the break goalless before Doku curled in with his left foot. The margins had been fine - his effort nestled into the top corner after Gianluigi Donnarumma’s fingertips had stopped a Rohl cross from giving Beto a tap in. The striker then snatched at the ball from an impossible angle when he had team-mates better placed from the rebound.
Everton’s route back into the match was difficult to foresee but it did come. When it did, Hill Dickinson Stadium was bursting with the hostility and intensity it was built to support. While the gulf in talent looked wide at times, City rarely looked comfortable at the back.
Hustled and harassed throughout, misplaced passes kept providing the Blues hope. The hosts fed off that and almost had their reward when Iliman Ndiaye broke free of the back line but could only shoot straight at Donnarumma. They did not have to wait long, however.
Moments later substitute Thierno Barry, defended by Moyes in the build-up after a difficult few months on and off the pitch, leapt onto a Marc Guehi back pass and finished past the Italy international goalkeeper. Everton were not done.
Carrying the momentum, the Blues attacked again and scored again. After near-post headers had hurt them in the last two games, the Blues brains trust had focused on how to deal with them better. The result came at the other end as Jake O’Brien thumped a header in at the front post. Cue ecstasy. The noise levels on the Liverpool waterfront hit unprecedented heights. The stadium was built for nights like this and the players and the supporters continued to feed off the energy rippling through the arena. For so long, Everton have hated their Monday night berth. Not tonight.
City, title hopes in disarray, attacked and so did the Blues. Ndiaye had another one-on-one saved but then good defending followed by quick thinking from O’Brien sent Rohl down the right. His shot hit the heels of a defender but fell kindly for Barry and the forward poked in to send Everton to the brink of a famous night.
This is Everton, though. Nothing is easy, nothing is straightforward. A lapse of concentration allowed Erling Haaland to score after just one pass from the restart split the home centre backs. That set up a nervy finale in which the crowd lapped up every block, every challenge and every clearance from those in Royal Blue.
But then, with 50,000 supporters craving for the final whistle, heartbreak followed. Everton thought they had cleared their lines but Doku equalised with another sublime curling effort. The joy turned to anger.
For a third consecutive game the Blues were undone by a stoppage time goal. This was just as cruel as the last two. It was, perhaps, just as undeserved.
This night was everything Everton hoped it would be. And then it was not.