Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola saw his team hand firm control of the title race to Arsenal with a blown lead in a 3-3 draw with Everton at Hill Dickinson Stadium on Monday.
MORE — Everton v Man City recap, video highlights
City are five points behind Arsenal as Mikel Arteta's former team used second-half goals from Thierno Barry and Jake O'Brien to overcome Jeremy Doku's late first-half opener but could not hold onto all three points.
Seventy-five percent possession for most of the game didn't mean much in the end as errors and poor defending sprung Everton to three successive goals.
Erling Haaland pulled City back within one in the 83rd minute and Doku scored deep in stoppage time to secure a point.
Pep Guardiola reaction — Man City boss speaks after draw with Everton
What do you make of your game? "Really good. The first half was really really good. So tight, so difficult with thier physicality. Second half we gave away the goals but came back and they make a proper English game, so aggressive in the duels. In general we made a really good performance."
How difficult were they to break down? "They found it more difficult to break us down and they had one chance. We were outstanding. We arrived at the byline a lot and shoot, make chances. They defend so deep and arrive in transition so well. We take the point and until it's over, it's over. We'll continue."
"They had the moment. They were aggressive. In general we good with our process, we were outstanding especially Jeremy on the left. Everton away is always difficult. Credit to them."
Can the point be important? "It's better than losing. We'd rather win. We play for that but we showed what a team we are. We tried. We were aggressive."
How does the title race feel? "It's now not in our hands, no. Four games we have in the Premier League. They were be quite similar and we'll see what happens."
Jeremy Doku reaction — Brace-scorer on comeback, dropped points for Man City
Thoughts on the game: "We played well. We created a lot of chances. We know if you don't score those chances it's going to be difficult at the end. Second half we struggled a bit and lost unnecessary balls. They scored two goals but I think we gave them the game. One point is not bad in games like this."
Why were Everton able to contain you early? "It's difficult because there are a lot of players in the box. Whenever we arrive it's difficult to find the right pass. We scored and then it was a bit more open but we second half we were a bit more sloppy to keep the ball."
How do you feel now? "It's painful now but there's still a lot of games to go and anything can happen. We'll keep on fighting. We owe it to ourselves and our fans."
