Manchester City no longer has the Premier League title in its own hands. Pep Guardiola’s facial expressions during the 3-3 draw against Everton spoke volumes.
The first minor scare came as early as the middle of the first half. Antoine Semenyo, unmarked, sent a first-time shot over the goal—and while the winter signing cried out in frustration on the field, Pep Guardiola turned around on the sideline in shock. Yet the real drama of the away match at Everton hadn’t even begun yet.
As the drama picked up steam in the second half, Guardiola scratched his forehead, hung his head, and finally buried it in his hands. Within 13 minutes, his team had conceded three goals—and possibly squandered their chance at the championship. Even though ManCity managed to equalize with a last-minute goal by Jeremy Doku in stoppage time, it felt like two points lost to Guardiola: “It’s no longer in our hands,” the Catalan told Sky Sports after the final whistle. “It used to be, but not anymore.”
Before the match, if both teams had won all their remaining games, the title would have been decided by goal difference. Now, with one game in hand, ManCity trails Arsenal by five points—a team that was actually on the verge of squandering what seemed like a sure championship. Now, Guardiola could only offer words of encouragement: “We still have games ahead of us. We’ll see what happens. Until it’s over, we’ll keep going.”
But how could such a seasoned team, with a coach who has seen and won it all, suffer such a collapse? “In the first half, we were still calm, but after Everton stepped up a gear, we lacked the determination we had shown in the first half,” Guardiola analyzed—though he himself seemed shocked by the 13-minute meltdown. “A lot happened,” said the coach, attributing his team’s problems to “the opponent’s strength and their incredibly aggressive style of play.”
Doku combative: “We owe that to our fans”
Jeremy Doku, who at least salvaged a point with his second goal of the day, noted: “It hurts right now. But there are still many games to go. We lost two points, but we’ll keep fighting. We owe that to ourselves and our fans.”
At least the late comeback can serve as a small source of encouragement. The passion with which City fought back after those 13 disastrous minutes made Guardiola proud, at least. “Without emotion, you can’t come back,” he said. “If you give up, you can’t do what we did tonight.”