BIG twist in title race as Man City slip up

An extraordinary match at Hill Dickinson Stadium produced six goals, two comebacks, and a huge swing in the title race. It goes down as an instant Premier League classic.

Jeremy Doku’s sensational late equaliser, his second goal of the game, was the final twist of a wild contest in which Manchester City took the lead against Everton, went 3-1 down, and then came back to salvage a point that could yet be important in the title race.

A game as breathless as this one is never easy to process, but particularly not during The Run In. Man City will be relieved to have rescued a point, crestfallen to have dropped two; proud of a stirring comeback from 3-1 down, frustrated to have conceded three goals in 13 minutes of chaos.

The upshot is that Arsenal are now in control of their own destiny — win each of their final three matches and the Premier League crown is theirs. Even if they draw at West Ham United on Sunday, they could go on and win the title on goal difference. Their goal difference is currently four higher than Man City’s and their final two fixtures are Burnley (H) and Crystal Palace (A), the latter of which is just a few days before Palace could be playing in the UEFA Conference League final.

Man City manager Pep Guardiola spent much of the second half on Monday night in stunned silence, and you can understand why, when a controlled 1-0 lead evaporated following a mistake from Marc Guehi, a corner goal that followed an error by Abdukodir Khusanov, and finally the second goal of the game for Thierno Barry after Mateo Kovacic was too easily beaten. Barry, along with the brilliant Tim Iroegbunam, ran the show for Everton in the second half.

It was a reminder that for all the pressure on Arsenal — riding the anxiety in search of a first title in over 20 years — this is a new-look Man City side facing the same tension and, arguably, the same level of inexperience: seven of the starting XI on Monday night have never won the Premier League.

Watch: How the title race twisted in Arsenal’s favour

It was only a fortnight ago that Declan Rice sat on the turf at the Etihad Stadium, mouthing “it’s not done” to his fellow Arsenal players. Now it’s the turn of Man City’s senior stars — and the manager — to lift spirits and rise to the occasion.

“[Drawing] is better than losing, it just shows what the team are,” Guardiola told Sky Sports, praising his team’s comeback from 3-1 down. “We take the point, and until it’s over, it’s not over.

“It was in our hands before this game but now it’s not. Prepare for Brentford. We will continue and see what happens.”

Whether the two dropped points will cost Man City the title remains to be seen, but whatever the final outcome this season, their 3-3 draw at Everton will go down in Premier League folklore. It will either be remembered as the moment Arsenal were given the telling advantage or the moment Doku’s wonder-goal brought Man City’s title hopes back from the brink.

Forest close in on safety as Pereira’s big gamble pays off

In late March, five Premier League Matchweeks ago, Chelsea were 19 points clear of Nottingham Forest. Now, they are separated by only six points, following a run of six successive league defeats for Chelsea while Forest have won four of their last five matches.

Chelsea and Forest’s recent results/upcoming fixtures

Few would have predicted Forest’s comfortable 3-1 victory at Stamford Bridge after Vitor Pereira made eight changes to his starting XI in anticipation of their Europa League semi-final second leg at Aston Villa on Thursday.

Pereira took a risk that paid off spectacularly. Forest have taken a major step towards safety, moving six points clear of the bottom three with 42 points, a total that has proved enough to avoid relegation in all bar one of the Premier League’s 30 seasons played over 38 rounds of matches.

West Ham United, in 2002/03, is the only exception. It isn’t quite done, but Forest are within touching distance.

They also go to Villa Park on Thursday on the back of a 10-match unbeaten run in all competitions, their longest top-flight sequence since November 1995, while also a much-changed Villa team fell to a third consecutive defeat at home to Tottenham Hotspur the day before. 

Forest’s only concern was an injury to Morgan Gibbs-White, who was replaced in the second half with a head injury, but head coach Pereira is hopeful his star man will be available to face Villa.

“I don’t think the issue is concussion, he has a deep cut. But he is a fighter and I know he wants to play for sure,” Pereira told Forest’s website.

“He’s in pain at the moment but I believe we will hopefully have Morgan in the next game, but let’s see.”

But with Taiwo Awoniyi scoring two goals and winning a penalty on his 100th appearance for the club, Forest might not even need Gibbs-White. Awoniyi is usually behind fit-again Chris Wood and Igor Jesus in the pecking order of forwards.

Meanwhile, Chelsea extended their losing streak to six in the league for the first time since 1993 and can no longer finish in the top five.

Chelsea’s interim head coach Calum McFarlane could not hide his disappointment after the match, telling the club website: “I thought the first 15 minutes were nowhere near the level we needed to be.

“The manner in which the two goals were conceded really set us back and gave us a mountain to climb. You can’t do that at this level, especially against a team that’s fighting for its life.”

The only silver lining was Joao Pedro’s brilliant late bicycle kick that ended a run of 565 minutes without a goal for Chelsea (stretching back to 4 March).

Chelsea could still sneak into the UEFA Champions League if they finish sixth while Villa finish fifth AND win the Europa League. But McFarlane’s side are still four points off sixth place and only one point above Sunderland in 12th spot. 

Defeat against Liverpool on Saturday could push Chelsea out of the top 10 altogether.