Liverpool, May 5 (IANS) Manchester City suffered a costly setback in the Premier League title race after a thrilling 3-3 draw at Everton.

City are five points behind Arsenal with only one match in hand, and the Gunners will be crowned champions if they win their final three games.

Everton, meanwhile, remain in the race for European qualification, climbing to 10th place with 48 points.

Man City led at half-time through Jeremy Doku but then had a hugely damaging 13-minute spell in which they conceded three times to fall 3-1 behind, Thierno Barry scoring twice from the bench either side of a Jake O’Brien goal.

Pep Guardiola’s side managed a late comeback, with Erling Haaland scoring immediately after kick-off in the 83rd minute, and Doku then curling in his second goal of the match deep into stoppage time.

Everton had to weather an early storm, with Man City recording 86.4 per cent possession across the opening 20 minutes.

But the hosts eventually gained a foothold, and midfielder Merlin Rohl – playing in an unfamiliar wide role – burst in behind Man City’s defence just after the half-hour mark, though his cross was palmed out of Beto’s path by Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Everton’s resolve was punctured in the 43rd minute by a moment of magic from Doku, who created a yard of space on the edge of the box and curled an unstoppable effort into the top-left corner, Premier League reports.

Ndiaye forced Donnarumma into a save, but a huge chance went begging for the Toffees’ No 10 soon after as the chaos started.

A long punt forward caused havoc for Man City’s defence, but one-on-one with Donnarumma, Ndiaye sent a tame effort straight at the goalkeeper.

Everton striker Barry, not long on as a substitute, made no such mistake and gratefully slotted home when Man City centre-back Marc Guehi underplayed a simple back pass in the 68th minute.

Guehi atoned somewhat when he thwarted Ndiaye with a last-ditch challenge, but from the resulting corner, Everton defender O’Brien headed in from James Garner’s 73rd-minute inswinger.

Everton’s incredible turnaround yielded a third goal in the 81st minute when Barry finished from Rohl’s wayward shot but straight from the restart, Man City hit back as Haaland surged through an inexplicable gap in the home side’s defence.

That error proved costly for Everton when they failed to clear their lines from a corner in the seventh minute of stoppage time, and Doku was once again given too much space to slam in a wonderful finish.

–IANS

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