{"id":648270,"date":"2026-05-05T00:34:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T00:34:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/648270\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T00:34:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T00:34:08","slug":"manchester-citys-wild-draw-at-everton-hands-arsenal-title-edge-despite-late-doku-strike-premier-league","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/648270\/","title":{"rendered":"Manchester City\u2019s wild draw at Everton hands Arsenal title edge despite late Doku strike | Premier League"},"content":{"rendered":"

At home in north London, a celebrated former Everton midfielder must have been tempted to raise a toast to his old club. Mikel Arteta will know it would have tasted sweeter but for J\u00e9r\u00e9my Doku\u2019s superb 97th-minute equaliser for Manchester City<\/a>. He will also know the pendulum has swung Arsenal\u2019s way in the race for the Premier League title.<\/p>\n

The last kick of a crazy second half salvaged what could prove a precious point for Pep Guardiola\u2019s challengers, but they veered off course against Everton<\/a> and also in the context of a title race with little margin for error.<\/p>\n

City were in command and in the lead after a dominant first half. By the 81st minute they trailed 3-1, the Everton substitute Thierno Barry scoring twice, either side of a Jake O\u2019Brien header.<\/p>\n

It could have been worse had the video assistant referee penalised Bernardo Silva for a blatant foul on Merlin R\u00f6hl inside the City penalty area. City, however, confirmed they will not be going anywhere without a fight. Erling Haaland reduced the arrears immediately after Everton\u2019s third before Doku curled his second sublime finish of the night around Jordan Pickford from the edge of the area.<\/p>\n

Six minutes of stoppage time had been signalled, but the referee, Michael Oliver, added an extra minute for the introduction of Harrison Armstrong for Tim Iroegbunam. Iroegbunam was off the pitch injured at the time so, according to David Moyes, \u201cthere was no need to add the extra 30 seconds on\u201d.<\/p>\n

Guardiola talked up the positives of City\u2019s late comeback, but he is experienced enough to know his team have blinked first in the fight with Arsenal. It is out of City\u2019s hands now. Arsenal are three wins from winning their first league title in 22 years.<\/p>\n

The visitors enjoyed almost total control of the first half. Everton could only have been deeper had they fallen into the dock beneath their feet. \u201cThey didn\u2019t allow us to breathe,\u201d said Moyes.<\/p>\n

Jake O\u2019Brien rises highest at the near post to make it 2-1 to Everton. Photograph: Phil Oldham\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

City took their time to seriously test Pickford, but the breakthrough was worth the wait. Doku was involved at the start and finish of a flowing move. Iroegbunam had a chance to clear, but was stopped in his tracks by Nico Gonz\u00e1lez. The visitors worked the ball out to Rayan Cherki on the right, who found Doku in space outside the Everton area.<\/p>\n

The Belgium international switched play on to his left foot, opened up his body and curled a stunning finish around James Garner and into the top-right corner.<\/p>\n

It was a superb strike from an increasingly influential player \u2013 and Doku\u2019s fifth goal involvement in five matches \u2013 that understandably left Guardiola in raptures.<\/p>\n

The goalscorer was fortunate to escape injury moments later when caught on the ankle by a full-blooded challenge from Michael Keane as the pair chased a 50-50 ball down the left wing. Keane took the man first and the ball second as he slid in on the winger. The referee deemed it a yellow card offence only. After a brief check, the VAR, Paul Howard, supported the on-field decision. Keane could consider himself fortunate.<\/p>\n

Everton were a different proposition after the interval. They performed with an intensity and positivity that had been absent before the break. City\u2019s defence, along with their title challenge, wobbled in the face of both.<\/p>\n

Marc Gu\u00e9hi produced a well-timed tackle to prevent Beto racing through on a Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall pass, but the visitors\u2019 rearguard was increasingly vulnerable to the penetrating runs of Iliman Ndiaye. Fortunately for them, the Senegal international\u2019s finishing did not match his approach work. He forced Gianluigi Donnarumma into a low save that was not followed up by R\u00f6hl and then shot straight at the keeper after a mix-up between Matheus Nunes and Gu\u00e9hi let him through on goal.<\/p>\n

Gu\u00e9hi\u2019s next mistake proved more costly. The City defender intercepted a R\u00f6hl pass that was intended for Barry, who was clearly offside, but miskicked straight to the Everton substitute, who beat Donnarumma from close range. The assistant referee waved his flag for offside, but as Gu\u00e9hi had controlled possession and was under no pressure from Barry the goal was allowed after a VAR review.<\/p>\n

Thierno Barry scores the first of his two goals against Manchester City. Photograph: Stu Forster\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Five minutes later, Everton were ahead when O\u2019Brien rose between Gonz\u00e1lez and Gu\u00e9hi to head home a Garner corner at the near post. Barry extended the lead with a tap-in after R\u00f6hl\u2019s shot deflected into his path off Abdukodir Khusanov.<\/p>\n

City players stared at the big screens in sheer disbelief, their title challenge crumbling unexpectedly, but roused themselves impressively. Haaland clipped a lovely finish over Pickford when Mateo Kovacic\u2019s pass dissected Everton\u2019s central defence too easily straight from the restart. Doku then retrieved Phil Foden\u2019s deep corner and curled another immaculate shot past Pickford, this time with his right foot.<\/p>\n

Three managers \u2013 Guardiola, Moyes and Arteta \u2013 were left to rue what might have been, although you suspect Arsenal\u2019s will be over the disappointment quickest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At home in north London, a celebrated former Everton midfielder must have been tempted to raise a toast…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":648271,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[49,48,561,82],"class_list":["post-648270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648270","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=648270"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648270\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/648271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=648270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=648270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=648270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}