Pep Guardiola insists Manchester City will keep fighting Arsenal for the Premier League after dropping points at Everton but admits the title is not any longer in their very own hands.
Man City were hoping to cut back Arsenal’s lead at the highest of the Premier League to 3 points once they visited the Hill Dickinson Stadium on Monday night.
Guardiola’s side blew the title race wide open by beating Arsenal last month however 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 sensible strike on the stroke of half-time but Everton mounted a shocking comeback, going 3-1 up through a Thierno Barry brace and a Jake O’Brien header.
It was then Man City’s turn to provide an excellent comeback, with the visitors scoring two late goals through Erling Haaland and Doku to avoid defeat.
The three-3 draw means Arsenal boast a five-point lead at the highest of the Premier League ahead of their final three league games against West Ham, Burnley and Crystal Palace.
Assessing the title race after Manchester City’s draw at Everton, Guardiola said: ‘We take the purpose and until it’s over, we’re going to proceed.
‘It’s higher than a loss. We played to win. It just shows what the team are. We tried and we have now done it. It’s not in our hands. Before it was in our hands. Now, no.
‘We’ve to do it in our 4 games that we have now within the Premier League. It’s going to be quite similar against Brentford. We’ll see what happens.’
Discussing the sport more generally, Guardiola said: ‘Everton away is at all times difficult and I give credit to them for his or her 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 arrive back and make a correct English game, so aggressive within the duels.
‘But on the whole we made a extremely good performance. It’s demanding because they play so well defensively, with 10 players there and the fast transitions.’
Man City hero Doku added: ‘It feels painful now. There remains to be plenty of games to go.
‘We lost two points today. We’ll carry on fighting – we owe it to ourselves and to our fans.’
Manchester City will look to spice up their fading title hopes on Saturday once they welcome in-form Brentford to the Etihad Stadium.
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