Pep Guardiola after Man City’s draw with Everton (Picture: Sky Sports)
Pep Guardiola insists Manchester City will keep fighting Arsenal for the Premier League after dropping points at Everton but admits the title is no longer in their own hands.
Man City were hoping to reduce Arsenal’s lead at the top of the Premier League to three points when they visited the Hill Dickinson Stadium on Monday night.
Guardiola’s side blew the title race wide open by beating Arsenal last month but the Gunners responded with wins over Newcastle United and Fulham.
Trailing Arsenal by six points but boasting two games in hand, the title was still effectively in Manchester City’s hands but that required an away win at Everton on Monday.
City led through Jeremy Doku’s brilliant strike on the stroke of half-time but Everton mounted a stunning comeback, going 3-1 up through a Thierno Barry brace and a Jake O’Brien header.
It was then Man City’s turn to produce a brilliant comeback, with the visitors scoring two late goals through Erling Haaland and Doku to avoid defeat.
The 3-3 draw means Arsenal boast a five-point lead at the top of the Premier League ahead of their final three league games against West Ham, Burnley and Crystal Palace.
Jeremy Doku scored twice in a thrilling 3-3 draw (Picture: Getty)
Assessing the title race after Manchester City’s draw at Everton, Guardiola said: ‘We take the point and until it’s over, we’re going to continue.
‘It’s better than a loss. We played to win. It just shows what the team are. We tried and we have done it. It’s not in our hands. Before it was in our hands. Now, no.
‘We have to do it in our four games that we have in the Premier League. It will be quite similar against Brentford. We will see what happens.’
Everton dented Man City’s title hopes (Picture: Getty)
Discussing the game more generally, Guardiola said: ‘Everton away is always difficult and I give credit to them for their composure and aggression.
‘Second half, they made a step up. We didn’t have as much control and we gave away the goal. After that they come back and make a proper English game, so aggressive in the duels.
‘But in general we made a really good performance. It’s not easy because they play so well defensively, with 10 players there and the fast transitions.’
Man City hero Doku added: ‘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.’
Manchester City will look to boost their fading title hopes on Saturday when they welcome in-form Brentford to the Etihad Stadium.
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