Everton 3-3 Man City: Dramatic thriller sees Doku's last-gasp equalizer save City's title hopes

Manchester City are five points behind Arsenal in the Premier League (PL) title race after salvaging a 3-3 draw against Everton at Hill Dickinson Stadium thanks to a 97th-minute equaliser which saw them make it 18 league meetings unbeaten.

Match Report

Any Evertonian optimism generated by Beto’s confirmed return to the starting lineup was tempered by a dominant start from the visitors. Rayan Cherki fired at Pickford, before Antoine Semenyo rolled a ball across the face of goal on the rebound. Although Semenyo then fired wildly over on 21’, it seemed a matter of time before Everton would crack, and prolong their nine-year wait for a H2H success. 

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall gave Everton a fleeting glimpse of hope in the 25th minute, as Abdukodir Khusanov deflected a shot on the counter wide. That seemed to briefly ignite the Toffees, and they had an even better chance soon after, when Merlin Röhl found Beto inside the box, but Gianluigi Donnarumma got a desperate, vital hand to the ball. City heeded that warning shot, and resumed their former stride. And they finally forged ahead three minutes before the break, when Cherki squared the ball back to Jérémy Doku, who curled a shot from the edge of the area high into the net past Pickford’s despairing dive.

That didn’t spark an immediate change in the momentum after HT as City continued to dictate the tempo, but the next two real chances both fell to Iliman Ndiaye at the end of Everton counters. On the first occasion, he was marshalled to ensure that his shot lacked the power to beat Donnarumma low to his right, before finding himself put clean through by an errant bounce, only for the Italian to commit and deny him a leveller with a point-blank save low to his left.

Just minutes after Thierno Barry joined the fray in place of Beto, Everton equalised in surreal circumstances. Marc Guéhi’s interception of Röhl’s attempted through ball seemed straightforward enough, but his backpass was botched and Barry was able to nip in and roll the ball low past Donnarumma into the bottom-left corner. With City surrendering the lead so needlessly, their former composure was diminished, yet Guéhi somewhat atoned by thwarting Ndiaye at the near post with 20 minutes to play. But that was a fleeting reprieve, with Jake O’Brien completing the turnaround from the subsequent corner, heading in at the near post from James Garner’s inswinger.

Ndiaye should have finished the game as a contest on 75’, but fired straight at Donnarumma when played through. Where the Senegalese forward failed, Barry once more succeeded, as Röhl burst down the right flank after escaping the attentions of Mateo Kovačić. His cross-shot deflected into the path of Barry, who tapped in, but City immediately halved the deficit, with Erling Haaland bursting through and lobbing Pickford.  As expected, City poured forward in their desperation to salvage something, And that’s what they did with the final kick, as Doku received the ball from a corner and fired into the far-right corner. Despite the late point, City may well see this as the night the apprentice finally beat the master, with the PL title surely now Arsenal’s to lose.

Match Events

0' The match is about to start!

5' Dewsbury-Hall brings down Cherki and the ref blows his whistle for a foul

8' Cherki strikes from the edge of the box, but he sends the ball high over the bar

17' O'Reilly tries to send the ball in front of the goal, but the opposition's defence averts the threat

18' Nico O'Reilly produces two consecutive shots inside the box, but they are both blocked

19' Semenyo lacks options so goes solo, and unleashes a good shot but it goes wide

25' Dewsbury-Hall takes a shot from the edge of the box, but his effort is blocked by a defender

32' Khusanov bravely blocks the shot from Beto inside the box

39' Cherki picks up the ball inside the box and fires an effort that sails well over the bar

43' GOAL! Cherki finds Doku, he jinks to his left and fires a beauty into the net! Everton 0-1 Man City

45' Yellow Card! Keane booked for his blatant foul on Doku

48' Beto takes his opponent down and receives a yellow

50' Semenyo is down injured and the referee stops play so that he can receive medical treatment

60' Ndiaye unleashed a promising shot from the edge of the penalty area, but Donnarumma saves the ball

65' Ndiaye runs with the ball and strikes from close range, but Donnarumma makes an amazing save

68' GOAL! Barry takes advantage of Guehi's error and levels the score! Everton 1-1 Man City

73' GOAL! Jake O'Brien outjumps the defence to put his header into the net! Everton 2-1 Man City

81' GOAL! Thierno Barry slips the ball past the goalkeeper! Everton 3-1 Man City

83' GOAL! Haaland collects a pass and lifts the ball over Pickford! Everton 3-2 Man City

86' Yellow Card! Jake O'Brien booked for a bad tackle on an opponent

90'+7' GOAL! Everton 3-3 Man City (Doku)

Line-ups

Everton XI: Pickford, Tarkowski, Keane, Dewsbury-Hall, Vitaliy Mykolenko, Garner, Beto, Iliman Ndiaye, Jake O'Brien, Tim Iroegbunam, Merlin Röhl

Subs: Coleman, Travers, McNeil, Nathan Patterson, Carlos Alcaraz, Tyler Dibling, Tyrique George, Thierno Barry, Harrison Armstrong

Man City XI: Bernardo Silva, Donnarumma, Haaland, Guehi, Antoine Semenyo, Matheus Nunes, Nico González, Cherki, Doku, Nico O'Reilly, Abdukodir Khusanov

Subs: Kovacic, Ake, Stones, Foden, Omar Marmoush, Reijnders, Rayan Aït-Nouri, James Trafford, Savinho