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Man City draw against Everton in EPL thriller, boosting Arsenal’s title hopes
05th May, 2026 12:28 AM
Manchester City’s hopes of closing the gap with league leaders Arsenal suffered a major setback after playing out to a crazy 3-3 draw with Everton at the Hill Dickinson Stadium on Monday, May 4, 2026.
Pep Guardiola’s men were all in control of the proceedings in the first forty five minutes, with Jeremy Doku putting them in front with a blazing finish into Jordan Pickford’s top corner.
Shocking second half
However, City’s plan to reduce the gap between them and Arsenal to three points with a game in hand proved difficult after David Moyes’ charges outplayed them in the second half.
Errors allowed Thierno Barry and Jake O’Brien to turn the game around, with Barry adding a third, compelling some City fans to start leaving the stadium in disappointment.
Erling Haaland responded immediately. However, Doku’s last-minute screamer was enough to tie up the encounter.
Moyes changes
Everton manager Moyes approached the game determined to get the maximum three points, which forced him to make three changes to the side that was narrowly defeated by West Ham United last time out, as Tim Iroegbunam, Beto and Merlin Röhl started from the off – the German making his first start since a 1-0 win away at Aston Villa in mid-January 2026.
The first real chance of the game fell to the visitors as Rayan Cherki saw a powerful effort palmed away by Jordan Pickford inside 18 minutes. Antoine Semenyo slid in the Frenchman, who had drifted in from the right. He opted to shoot early to try to catch Pickford off guard. Thankfully, the shot-stopper anticipated the effort and got two strong hands behind the ball.
The Toffees came agonisingly close to opening the scoring in the 32nd minute after an excellent run by Röhl. The midfielder showed lightning acceleration to burst past Marc Guéhi down the right before looking up and spotting the run of Beto. Gianluigi Donnarumma evaded his line to get a glove to the travelling ball, though, diverting it to a tight angle where Beto recollected it. The forward set his sights but saw his on-the-spin strike blocked by the recovering Matheus Nunes.
Doku then broke the deadlock three minutes before the interval with a curling effort from the edge of the box. Found by Cherki in an unfamiliar central position, the winger’s strike nestled into the top left corner to give City the lead on the stroke of half-time.
Donnaruma’s outstanding saves
On the hour mark, Iliman Ndiaye forced a strong save from Donnarumma after a mazy run from the Senegal international. He carried the ball from his own half to the City box on the break and looked to arrow the ball in to the bottom-left corner. The Italian matched his effort, though, palming it away with a strong hand.
The keeper then thwarted Ndiaye again, only four minutes later, making a crucial save to deny him in front of the South Stand. Everton’s number 10 latched on to a long ball over the top after a miscommunication between Nico Gonzalez and Nunes. Faced one-on-one with the keeper, his finessed shot was well-saved by the diving Donnarumma.
However, defensive blunders cost City, forcing them to dig deep only for Doku to salvage a point in the dying minutes of the game.
The result leaves City second with 71 points, while Arsenal are 5 points clear with one game advantage following their emphatic win against Fulham.
Mathematically, if Arsenal win all their remaining fixtures, they will be crowned EPL winners, ending their long drought.
