After months of debate over whether the Premier League title would be won in London or Manchester, the destination of the trophy might just have been decided on Merseyside.
For weeks, Manchester City have looked to be the team in the ascendency. But the pendulum has swung dramatically in Arsenal’s favor after Pep Guardiola’s side played out an enthralling 3-3 draw with Everton at Hill Dickinson Stadium on Monday. It was a game City looked to have won and then conspired to lose, before Jérémy Doku’s stunning strike in stoppage time salvaged a point that could yet prove decisive when a new champion is crowned in just a few weeks’ time.
Arsenal’s emphatic victory over Fulham at the weekend meant the margin for error was nonexistent for City as they completed the first of their two games in hand. When Doku curled in a sublime opener on the cusp of half-time, Guardiola’s men appeared destined to close the gap from six points to three.
But a second-half capitulation means City are now outsiders to win the league for a seventh time in nine years. Opta gives Arsenal an 85.2% chance of ending their 22-year title drought this term.
It was only a few weeks ago that a Manchester City supporter went viral for holding up an Arsenal-branded bottle in the away end during his team’s victory at Chelsea, designed to illustrate the Gunners’ proclivity for “bottling” previous title races. However, against Everton, City showed they are not immune to the heightened pressure of the run-in. Guardiola’s side conceded three goals in the space of 13 chaotic second-half minutes that could end up defining their season.
First, City center back Marc Guéhi’s loose pass back to goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma was intercepted by Everton substitute Thierno Barry, whose goal was awarded following a VAR check. Having made just three errors leading to goals across the first 31 games of the season, it was City’s second such error in three matches.
Defender Jake O’Brien compounded City’s frustrations when he rose the highest to nod home from a James Garner corner, before Merlin Röhl teed up Barry to score Everton’s third. The thousand-yard stares of Erling Haaland and Rayan Cherki as the hosts wheeled away in celebration said everything about just how seismic a result this could be.
Guardiola’s side conceded three goals in a half for only the second time this season. They have also now dropped the joint-most points from winning positions in the Premier League since the turn of the year (12, level with Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United).–ESPN
