Everton-Manchester City 3-3. Donnarumma makes a mistake, half the Premier League belongs to Arsenal

It’s not a defeat, but it’s a lot like one. Because Manchester City misses the chance for the title at Everton, the 3-3 that Jérémy Doku achieves with a magic in the 97th minute is only a small consolation for a sprint towards the Premier League which has now become an escape in which Guardiola’s team is the chaser. Arsenal remains ahead, with a 5-point lead and their fate in their hands: Arteta’s team, now busy seeking the second Champions League final in its history, still has three games to play against Manchester City’s four. But now she controls her own destiny, helped by the demons of Guardiola’s team that suddenly emerged, when Marc Guehi in the 68th minute gave Everton a draw, 1-1, in a match that the visitors had been dominating until then. It took a lot of character not to sink, as seemed inevitable after the 3-1 made by the unleashed Thierno Barry, the man of the turning point for the Toffees, in the 81st minute. Doku’s equalizer means that City have remained unbeaten in the Premier League since 17 January, but in a sprint where points and goals count, this misstep on the road smacks of condemnation, of a blow to the certainties of a team that had convinced itself that it could play for the title until the end, that it could win.

city ​​collapse

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City went deep, after that sensational mistake by Guehi to make it 1-1, a back pass too short for Gigio Donnarumma to reach it before the Everton striker who had entered just a few minutes earlier. Guardiola lost his team in the following thirteen minutes: it looked like last year’s City, the one that melted like snow in the sun at the first difficulty, lost certainties. Everton took the lead, with O’Brien’s 2-1 from a corner in the 68th minute (big responsibility for Donnarumma who came out badly and left the goal unprotected) and then with Barry’s 3-1 again in the 81st minute, after another defensive error by Guardiola’s team. Then Haaland scores and City remembers that they still have hopes, those that Donnarumma tries to fuel with two offensive incursions to head a corner kick. Those that Doku rekindles with the second spell of his game. Enough not to lose, not to get off the train that takes you to the Premier League.

haaland and doku are not enough

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It’s difficult to react now, to understand where it can be remedied. City were in the first of six matches in 21 days, including the FA Cup final on 16 May. Michael Kayode’s Brentford arrive at the Etihad on Saturday and are now racing for Europe while Arsenal travel to West Ham, at risk of relegation. Then the tour de force on May 13th features the visit of Crystal Palace, in the match that City has had to recover from March. For Guardiola’s title hopes, in what could be his final weeks in Manchester, it is no longer enough to win and score as many goals as possible. We also need to hope for a misstep from the Gunners who, with 3-0 against Fulham, seem to be back on track. And that they have an easier calendar, however it ends with Atletico, with free weeks to prepare for the last two days. City didn’t lose against Everton in the end. But the way the race for the Premier League has turned out, it’s as if he had done it.