Jeremy Doku’s 97th-minute equaliser offered Manchester City a title lifeline at Everton but Pep Guardiola was left ruing individual mistakes and refereeing decisions as they handed Arsenal an enviable advantage.
City were losing 3-1 going into the final seven minutes but Erling Haaland and then Doku’s stunning last-gasp strike saw them escape with a draw.
It means Arsenal still have to win all three remaining Premier League matches to guarantee a first crown in 22 years.
Guardiola saw Marc Guehi gift Thierno Barry an equaliser and claimed that City were on the wrong end of a bad call for Jake O’Brien’s header amid a nightmare 13 minutes when Everton scored three.
‘We give away the first goal,’ Guardiola said. ‘[For the second], the corner [awarded] isn’t a corner. After that the game is open and they had the chances.
‘You make rushed decisions. It’s normal because of emotion but without emotion you cannot come back [late on].
Pep Guardiola was left ruing Man City’s 3-3 draw at Everton in a huge blow to their title hopes
Thierno Barry capitalised on an error from Marc Guehi as Everton scored three in 13 minutes
‘It was in our hands. Now it isn’t. We have Brentford on Saturday and we will see what happens.’
City were incensed that a VAR check on Michael Keane’s late tackle on Doku before half-time did not yield a red card, with an obviously frustrated Guardiola adding: ‘What can I say? [They gave a] yellow card. It’s not my job.
‘A point is better [than none]. Everton were incredibly, incredibly aggressive the way they played.’
Also asked on Sky Sports about the incident, Guardiola replied: ‘Your pundits can say it.’
Everton boss David Moyes criticised the officials, led by Michael Oliver, after not awarding a penalty for Bernardo Silva’s tussle with Merlin Rohl.
‘If that doesn’t get given as a penalty it’s an absolute free for all from now on,’ Moyes said. ‘You can grapple and wrestle if you want. That’s on the back of a terrible decision at West Ham. It’s not the reason we didn’t get a result but most people who watch football will not understand it.’
City now need a favour from one of West Ham, Burnley or Crystal Palace in the last few weeks of the season if they are to lift a seventh league title of Guardiola’s decade-long reign.
City were incensed when Michael Keane (left) wasn’t sent off for this tackle on Jeremy Doku
Doku – whose brace cemented his growing reputation as an attacker who is now making more decisive contributions – could not hide his disappointment.
‘It’s good that we came back because one point is not bad in games like this,’ he said. ‘But I think we gave them the game.
‘First half we played well and created a lot of chances. We know if we don’t score those chances it is going to get difficult at the end.
‘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.’
