Manchester City’s title hopes were dented by Everton in a 3-3 thriller at the Hill Dickinson Stadium on Monday night.
A Jeremy Doku brace, including a 97th minute equalising goal, kept City’s title hopes barely breathing, with Arsenal now leading by five points. The Blues, however have a game in hand on the Gunners.
City took a 1-0 lead into the half-time break after a wonderful left-footed curled effort from Doku but were pegged back in the second-half by the Toffees after a turnaround that saw them 3-1 up by the 81st minute.
After going 3-1 down, City responded pretty much instantly when Haaland pulled one back just 12 seconds after the restart. The Blues would then do their best to find a third, which came in virtually the last kick of the game.
It was pure domination from the away side in the first quarter of an hour, with them taking up 88% of the possession to Everton’s 12%.
The hosts did start to get their foothold in the match after that though; they nearly took the lead after a storming run down the right hand side by Merlin Rohl who looked to square the ball to Beto at the back post – but Gianluigi Donnarumma got an important hand onto the ball to block the cross.
Then it was Doku’s time to shine. Rayan Cherki gave him the ball just inside the penalty area and the Belgian did the rest. He shifted onto his supposedly weaker left foot and arrowed a shit into the top left corner past Jordan Pickford.
In the second half, Everton started to really put City under some pressure and got their reward after Marc Guehi’s short pass back to Donnarumma was anticipated on by Barry, who got to the ball before the Italian and slotted home to equalise.
The goal was initially disallowed for offside by the assistant referee but after concluding that despite Barry was offside when Rohl’s through-ball was played, Guehi’s intervention then erased the Frenchman’s offside status.
Just five minutes later, Everton took the lead after O’Brien nodded home at the near post from James Garner’s corner. With nine minutes to go, it was three when Barry got his second of the game, tapping home from Rohl’s cross.
Almost instantly, Mateo Kovacic found Haaland from the centre circle, playing an inch-perfect pass to the Norwegian as he chipped the ball over Pickford. City pushed hard for a third but didn’t find it until the 97th minute through yet another magical Doku goal.
A corner to the back post was controlled by Guehi, who laid the ball off for Doku on the edge and the Belgian shaped up to shoot, piercing his effort into the right hand side of the goal.
The 3-3 draw leaves City’s title hopes severely dented and the Blues have to rely on Arsenal to drop points in any of their last three matches to have a chance of being champions.
Here are five things we learned from the contest in Merseyside!
1. Jeremy Doku: Superstar!
I don’t think there’s anywhere else to start other than the Belgian. Another star-studded performance from the winger despite the result. His ability to accelerate and burst past defenders is terrifying for any full-back and not only that, his link up play with Nico O’Reilly is brilliant to watch.
Before this season, there’s been a question of his end product in the final third but now, I think that question is wiped. His talent is unquestioned and he has asserted himself as one of the key players in this City squad.
Speaking to the media post match, Pep Guardiola praised the winger and said that he is doing more this season than he has done previously. He said: “He (Jeremy Doku) has made a step up with that (end product) and he has a lot of confidence. He’s starting to be a winning player, of
course he has always been incredible with the numbers and assists.”
2. Title race still on or is it all over?
Before the match, it was pretty set in stone that if city were to drop any points, the title would most likely be heading to north London.
However with the circumstances of scoring a 97th minute equalising goal, it now means that rather than if the result was a loss, Arsenal cannot afford to risk even drawing any of their last three matches instead of losing.
At 3-2, Arsenal would’ve had a six point lead at the top of the Premier League with three games to go, City having four remaining. But that one point could be all important come three weeks time. The main hindrance for City is the reliance on Arsenal dropping points.
The title race is as simple as this from here; if Arsenal win their remaining matches, they will be champions. The Gunners face West Ham on Sunday whilst City have the chance to close the gap to two points in a battle against high-flying Brentford on Saturday evening.
3. Is Marc Guehi a liability in big games?
There’s no doubting Marc Guehi’s quality whatsoever. However a question may be worth raising as to whether the English defender does not perform to his usual standard in crunch matches.
Maybe it’s harsh, as realistically to settle in to the team this quickly anyway is exceptional, and there will be elements of nervousness. That will be rectified with time and experience I’m sure, but at Tottenham in February, he made a mistake to allow Spurs to score their first of two goals in a 2-2 draw.
Against Real Madrid in the first-leg in March, he made a mistake for Federico Valverde’s third goal that saw Los Blancos head into half-time with a 3-0 lead. And possibly the biggest of all, the short pass to Donnarumma that didn’t reach its target and allowed Barry to pounce as City then seemed to almost collapse, conceding three goals in 13 minutes.
4. Four league games to go
I touched on the title race earlier and it will be the main talking point of this game. Have Everton won the title for Arsenal? Have City bottled it? Is it still possible to win? Well the answer to that question, is yes, it is indeed still possible for City to lift the title in just under three weeks time.
But a massive blow is the loss of the advantage of winning their remaining matches and they’ll be champions. Now, they have to rely on Arsenal dropping points to any of 18th placed West Ham, 19th placed, already relegated Burnley or 15th placed Crystal Palace.
Anyone would look at the fixtures and think Arsenal will be Premier League champions, easy fixtures. But this is football. Anything can happen and that Doku goal has given City a glimmer of hope. However, they can afford no more dropped points.
It has to be 12 points from 12 here on in you’d expect for City. They have to face 7th placed Brentford, 15th placed Crystal Palace, 6th placed Bournemouth and 5th placed Aston Villa. Very tough fixtures but City are second and have been for most of the season. It’s definitely, as much as it might seem like it is, not over.
5. A magnificent game but no cigar for either side
From a neutral perspective, what an incredible match it was. End to end for the most part, spectacular goals, aggression, it had everything. But from an Everton perspective, the 97th minute Doku goal has heavily dented their European qualification hopes.
At 3-2, they were just two points off Bournemouth in 6th,but now trail by four points with three to go. For City, a draw wasn’t good enough to keep up with Arsenal and it could have repercussions for the league title.
City keep their unbeaten run against Everton and extend it to 19 matches, after a 4-0 loss to The Toffees in 2017. It’s the third consecutive match that Everton have conceded a deciding stoppage time goal, having previously conceded to Liverpool and West Ham in 2-1 defeats.
For City, it’s the first time that they have avoided defeat in a Premier League match after trailing by 2+ goals in the 82nd minute since March 2012 in a 3-3 draw with Sunderland on that occasion. City went onto win the title on goal difference that season.