Title race slips from Manchester City’s grasp as Pep Guardiola concedes control

LIVERPOOL – Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola admitted the English Premier League title race had slipped out of his team’s control after they were held to a chaotic 3-3 draw at Everton on May 4.

“It’s now not in our hands – before it was, now no,” Guardiola said.

“Four games we have (remaining) in the Premier League. They will be quite similar and we’ll see what happens.”

City had the chance to draw level on points with leaders Arsenal with victories over Everton on May 4 and Brentford five days later.

Instead, they find themselves five points adrift, albeit with a game in hand, and needing a wobble from Arsenal.

Guardiola was left to reflect on a point salvaged rather than three gained at the Hill Dickinson.

“It’s better than losing,” he said. “We’d rather win. We play for that and we just showed what a team we are. We tried everything. The players were aggressive.”

Winger Jeremy Doku struck the dramatic equaliser in the 97th minute to complete a double on the night and echoed his manager’s frustration, while insisting City had not abandoned belief with four league games still to play.

“It’s painful now, but there’s still a lot of games to go and anything can happen,” Doku said. “We’ll keep on fighting. We owe it to ourselves and our fans.”

City striker Erling Haaland, who scored in the 83rd minute, could be heard saying “we’re still in it” as he shook hands with his teammates after the final whistle.

The visitors had gone into the break in control after Doku bent a beautiful strike into the top corner that goalkeeper Jordan Pickford had little chance of saving.

But Guardiola’s men unravelled in the second half as Thierno Barry capitalised on a Marc Guehi error in the 68th minute.

Jake O’Brien headed home a corner to give Everton the lead in the 73rd minute and Barry completed his double in the 81st after another defensive mistake.

City were not backing down as Haaland pulled one back when he broke through the Everton backline before lifting the ball over Pickford. Doku’s late-game heroics stretched City’s unbeaten streak in the league to 12 games.

Following the May 9 game against Brentford, City face Crystal Palace, Bournemouth and Aston Villa in their final three league games.

Arsenal have the far easier schedule on paper, with games against relegation-threatened West Ham United, already-relegated Burnley and Palace.

While their hopes of winning the league suffered a huge blow, City are technically still in the running for a domestic treble. They beat Arsenal to win the League Cup in March and meet Chelsea in the FA Cup final on May 16.

Everton, meanwhile, are 10th in the jam-packed mid-table fight for European berths.

“I think it’s going to be tough,” Everton boss David Moyes said. “In the last couple of games we’ve lost games late on and today we’ve drawn. It could and probably will have an impact on our final position.” REUTERS