Manchester City fought back bravely to earn a point after a 3-3 draw against Everton, leaving them with five points behind Arsenal in the Premier League title race.
City dominated the early stages and took the lead just before halftime through Jeremy Doku. Everton responded strongly in the second half as substitute Thierno Barry scored twice and Jake O’Brien added a header to turn the game around. City showed fighting spirit when Erling Haaland pulled one back before Doku struck a dramatic 97th-minute equaliser to salvage a point.
Pep Guardiola acknowledged that City’s margin for error is now zero.
“We take the point and until it’s over, we’re going to continue,” he declared to Sky Sports.
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Guardiola explained that they accept the point and will keep pushing until the end of the season.
He added, “It’s better than a loss. We played to win. It just shows what the team are. We tried and we have done it.”
The manager stressed that the players fought hard to win, and the comeback proves the strong character of the team.
Guardiola admitted the title is no longer in City’s control.
“It’s not in our hands. Before it was in our hands. Now, no.”
He stated that City must now rely on an Arsenal slip-up to stay in the title race. The boss insisted they have to win all their remaining four Premier League games.
“We have to do it in our four games that we have in the Premier League. It will be quite similar against Brentford. We will see what happens,” he said.
Guardiola praised Everton for their tough approach.
“Everton away is always difficult and I give credit to them for their composure and aggression.”
He noted that in the second half Everton stepped up their intensity. City lost control and gave away a goal. After that, the hosts created a proper aggressive English game full of strong duels.
“But in general we made a really good performance. It’s not easy because they play so well defensively, with 10 players there and transitions with Beto with Dewsbury-Hall,” Guardiola concluded.
