Manchester City have given the advantage in the title race to Arsenal as Pep Guardiola’s side drew 3-3 with Everton at the Hill Dickinson Stadium in one of the games of the Premier League season.
It was the second half that was particularly wild with five goals scored, ending with Jeremy Doku’s stunning 97th minute equaliser from outside the box to salvage a point for City.
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Doku bookended the contest as his superb strike from the edge of the box opened the scoring shortly before half time.
City’s pressure finally found its reward when Rayan Cherki found Doku, who curled a shot into Jordan Pickford’s top right-hand corner.
Things could have been even worse for the Toffees before the break as Michael Keane escaped with just a yellow card for a wild lunge on Doku.
Guardiola was clearly still seething about that call when speaking to Sky Sports post-match, replying “your pundits can say it” when asked about whether Keane should have been sent off.
That decision proved to be vital as City paid a heavy price for a serious of basic defensive errors.
Twice Guardiola’s men did not heed a warning that an Everton equaliser was coming.
Gianluigi Donnarumma parried Iliman Ndiaye’s effort back into the danger area but Merlin Rohl was not alive to the rebound.
Ndiaye then had a glorious chance after an error from Matheus Nunes but again could not beat the giant Italian in the City goal.
When the equaliser finally arrived, City were again architects of their own downfall.
After the break it was all Everton as the Toffees scored three goals in the space of 13 minutes to leave some City supporters so furious that they stormed out of the stadium.
Like Doku, Thierno Barry bagged a brace and his first came as a gift via a horrendous Marc Guehi blunder.
The defender’s back pass did not have not power behind it to reach Donnarumma and it allowed Barry to pounce, equalising in the 68th minute.
Another casual City mistake moments later led to Everton’s second. This time Abdukodir Khusanov was caught in possession by Ndiaye and bailed out by a last-ditch challenge from Guehi.
Donnarumma was then up in arms when Jake O’Brien’s header put Everton ahead from a corner from the resulting corner.
The Italian protested to the referee that he had been blocked, but only succeeded in getting himself booked.
It was then pandemonium for the Toffees in the 81st minute when Barry slotted home his second to give them a two-goal buffer.
But City were unprepared to say die.
Their superstar striker Erling Haaland responded immediately by scoring from the kick off barely after Everton had wrapped up their celebrations.
The Toffees were furious shortly after when they believed they should have had a penalty for Bernardo Silva holding Merlin Röhl and bringing him to ground in the box.
But it all came down to Doku in the final play of the game.
After the board went up to say six minutes of added time would be played, City’s corner extended the game into a 97th minute.
The ball spilt to Doku, who decided to mirror his opener, but from further out.
The 23-year-old Belgian beautifully curled a screamer into the right hand side of the net with his right foot, having found the top left corner with his left foot earlier in the night.
“First half we played well and created a lot of chances. We know if we don’t score those chances it is going to get difficult at the end,” Doku said.
“Obviously, they are at their own stadium, they create chances, and they are dangerous, and they scored two goals, but I think we gave them the game.
“Good that we came back because one point is not bad in games like this. It feels painful now. There is still a lot of games to go. We lost two points today. We will keep on fighting – we owe it to ourselves and to our fans.”
As a result, City now sit five points behind title rivals Arsenal with a game in hand.
It means if Arsenal can be perfect in their remaining three matches, Mikel Arteta’s men will be champions.
“I saw a bit of nervousness with City because they imploded. They brought Everton back into the game with some mistakes. The game became crazy,” Arsenal icon Thierry Henry said on Sky Sports.
“Arsenal can see that Man City dropped two points, but you can’t start to think that, ‘Now, maybe…’ There’s no maybe.
“Win your games. Don’t look at City. It’s in your hands.”
Liverpool great Jamie Carragher added: “We don’t know if that point will be vital at the end of the season but it almost feels like a situation where everybody is disappointed.
“Man City are disappointed because it felt like they were at east at 1-0. Arsenal supporters, players and manager will be devastated that it could and maybe should have been a defeat.
“But what a game. Unbelievable.”
Even though some stormed out in disgust once Everton scored their third, the away end was defiant after the final whistle, refusing to give up.
“Incredible game. The City players look absolutely devastated but the away fans are raising them, they are chanting defiantly and clearly still believe that could be a big point in the title race,” Sky Sports’ Adam Bate said from the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Guardiola was also staying positive, telling Sky Sports: “Really good performance. We played outstanding in the first half. Really, really good.
“Second half, they made a step up and we maybe weren’t as aggressive and after, of course, we gave away the goal. After they came back, they make a proper English game – so aggressive, so, so aggressive in the duels. But in general, we made a really good performance.”
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WOEFUL CHELSEA LOSE SIXTH STRAIGHT GAME
Nottingham Forest took a huge step towards Premier League survival with a 3-1 win at Chelsea on Monday that dealt a major blow to the Blues’ hopes of qualifying for the Champions League.
Taiwo Awoniyi marked his 100th Forest appearance with the early opener at Stamford Bridge and Igor Jesus’s penalty doubled their advantage soon afterwards.
Cole Palmer compounded Chelsea’s misery when he missed a penalty late in the first half.
Awoniyi struck again after the interval and Joao Pedro’s eye-catching bicycle kick in the closing stages was no consolation for lacklustre Chelsea.
Languishing in ninth place, Chelsea’s wretched run has left them on the verge of failing to reach next season’s Champions League.
Chelsea have lost six consecutive league games for the first time since 1993. Scoring for the first time in six league matches was the only positive in a shambolic display.
Calum McFarlane’s team are 10 points behind fifth-placed Aston Villa, with only nine points available in the race for the top-five finish that secures Champions League qualification.
However, sixth will also earn a Champions League berth if Villa finish fifth and win the Europa League, leaving Chelsea — currently four points adrift of sixth-placed Bournemouth — still with a slender chance.
Forest’s third successive league victory moved them six points clear of the relegation zone, with four more points needed to guarantee survival.
There are just three games left for each club in Forest’s scrap with fourth-bottom Tottenham and third-bottom West Ham.
Pereira made eight changes from Forest’s previous league game as he prioritised holding onto their 1-0 lead in Thursday’s Europa League semi-final second leg at Aston Villa.
The gamble paid off and Pereira’s side, unbeaten in their last 10 games in all competitions, can now focus on finishing off Villa to reach their first European final since 1980.
McFarlane last week insisted Chelsea remain an attractive club for prospective managers despite their latest turbulent campaign.
Liam Rosenior was sacked in April, just 106 days after arriving from Strasbourg to replace Enzo Maresca, whose 18-month reign ended in January following hints of a lack of support from Chelsea’s hierarchy.
Potential replacements for Rosenior might disagree with McFarlane’s spin after such a moribund performance.
– Miserable Chelsea –
Even Forest’s understudies were too strong for lethargic Chelsea. They took the lead after just 97 seconds when Dilane Bakwa evaded Marc Cucurella for a cross that reached Awoniyi, who punished Chelsea’s sloppy marking with a powerful header from six yards.
Chelsea were inches away from a quick-fire equaliser as Enzo Fernandez’s low curler cannoned off the far post from the edge of the penalty area.
But the Blues lost their composure again when Gusto needlessly conceded a 15th minute penalty.
Awoniyi’s shirt was tugged by the Chelsea defender as they contested Bakwa’s cross and although Anthony Taylor ignored Forest’s initial appeals, the referee changed his decision after consulting the pitch-side monitor.
Jesus stepped up to fire the penalty straight down the middle for his 16th goal in all competitions this season.
Chelsea earned a penalty in first-half stoppage time after teenager Jesse Derry was felled by Forest’s Zach Abbott in a nasty collision that forced the Blues youngster to be stretchered off with a head injury.
But adding insult to injury, Palmer’s spot-kick was superbly saved by Matz Sels as jeers rained down from the stands.
Back from a serious knee injury, Chelsea defender Levi Colwill came on at half-time for his first appearance since July.
But Forest still bagged their third in the 52nd minute when Morgan Gibbs-White picked out Awoniyi and he tapped in as Chelsea appealed in vain for offside.
By the time Joao Pedro scored with a spectacular overhead strike from 10 yards in added time, the Bridge was virtually empty in a fitting backdrop to another calamitous afternoon.