Manchester City’s Premier League title hopes were dealt a crushing blow on Monday as they dropped precious points at Everton, relying on Jeremy Doku’s strike deep in stoppage-time to salvage a 3-3 draw.
City, with 71 points from 34 games, trail leaders Arsenal by five points, but with a game in hand after a chaotic contest that saw Everton fight back after punishing a costly defensive error from City’s Marc Guehi.
City now need Arsenal — who have 76 points after 35 games — to stumble in one of their final three games to keep their chances of lifting the trophy alive.
Photo: EPA
“It’s better than losing, [but] it’s not in our hands,” Guardiola told Sky Sports about the title race. “Before it was, now it’s not. We have games left. We will see what happens.”
Guardiola’s players looked to be heading for defeat, and City’s traveling fans had already streamed toward the exits with their title dreams in tatters when Doku, who also scored City’s opener in the 43rd minute, fired into the top corner from the edge of the penalty in the 97th minute.
The equalizer capped a wild second half that featured a Thierno Barry double and a goal from Jake O’Brien.
City had gone into halftime in control after Doku bent a beautiful strike into the top corner that goalkeeper Jordan Pickford had little chance of saving, but Guardiola’s men unraveled in the second half. It started when Barry intercepted Guehi’s horrific pass back to goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to level in the 68th minute.
The offside flag originally went up, but since the ball was not passed to Barry by a teammate, the goal was given.
O’Brien headed home a corner to give Everton the lead in the 73rd minute and Barry completed his double in the 81st after another defensive mistake.
“It’s always a pleasure to play against a big team like Manchester City,” Barry said. “We had to settle for a draw, so we need to keep pushing because there are three games left.”
City were not backing down as Erling Haaland pulled one back in the 83rd minute when he broke through the Everton line before lifting the ball over Pickford.
Doku’s late-game heroics stretched City’s unbeaten streak in the league to 12 games.
Everton are 10th in the jam-packed mid-table fight for European berths next season.
“I think it’s going to be tough,” Everton head coach David Moyes said. “In the last couple of games we’ve lost games late on and today we’ve drawn. It could and probably will have an impact on our final position.”
Earlier, Nottingham Forest took a huge step toward English Premier League survival with a 3-1 win at Chelsea that dealt a major blow to the Blues’ hopes of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League.
Taiwo Awoniyi marked his 100th Forest appearance with the early opener at Stamford Bridge and Igor Jesus’ penalty doubled their advantage soon afterward.
Cole Palmer compounded Chelsea’s misery when he missed a penalty late in the first half.
Awoniyi struck again after halftime and Joao Pedro’s eye-catching bicycle-kick in the closing stages was no consolation for lackluster Chelsea.
Languishing in ninth place, Chelsea’s wretched run has left them on the verge of failing to reach next season’s Champions League.
Chelsea have lost six straight league games for the first time since 1993.
Scoring for the first time in six league matches was the only positive in a shambolic display.
Calum McFarlane’s team are 10 points behind fifth-placed Aston Villa, with only nine points available in the race for the top-five finish that secures Champions League qualification.
However, sixth would also earn a Champions League berth if Villa finish fifth and win the UEFA Europa League, leaving Chelsea — four points adrift of sixth-placed AFC Bournemouth — still with a slender chance.
Forest’s third successive league victory moved them six points clear of the relegation zone, with four more points needed to guarantee survival.
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