On Monday night, the whole balance of the Premier League title race tipped in the balance of league leaders Arsenal, as second-place Manchester City drew 3-3 with Everton at the Hill Dickinson Stadium in an enthralling encounter.
One incident may have changed the title trajectory
It is incredible how a whole season’s trajectory can change in one incident. City were cruising when, in the 68th minute, a catastrophic error by the visitors’ centre-back Marc Guehi gifted Everton substitute Thierno Barry an equaliser.
The goal was not without its controversy, though. The French forward was offside when Merlin Rohl initially played the ball forward.
@halftimehoax 🚨 The Premier League Admit Fault In The Awarding Of Everton’s Offside Goal #premierleague #everton #mancity ♬ original sound – HTH | Football News
However, by the time Guehi picked up the ball, it was a new phase of play, so when the City centre-back played a back pass towards his goalkeeper, Barry was onside, as he had not put pressure on the defender, who realised instantly what he had done.
The referee’s assistant initially ruled the goal offside, but after a short conversation with the referee, the goal was given. Although it seems harsh on City by the letter of the law, the decision was the correct one.
The goal shifted the momentum to Everton
Before their opener, Everton didn’t look like scoring. However, after the goal, the momentum switched, and the goal lifted both the Everton players and the fans, who roared their team on, encouraged by the fact that their team could get something from the game, which didn’t look likely in the first half.
David Moyes side scored a second through Republic of Ireland international Jake O’Brien, before Barry tapped home his second of the game from a mishit Rohl pass.
The game looked to be all but sealed, but Erling Haaland scored almost straight from the kick-off after the third goal.
More controversy followed after the second goal, though, as Bernardo Silva dragged the energetic Merlin Rohl down in the penalty area from a corner kick. Neither the on-field officials nor VAR deemed it a foul, with the Portuguese international arguably lucky to escape punishment.
With one of the last kicks of the game, over the allotted six minutes of stoppage time, City’s Belgian winger, Jeremy Doku, curled in his second of the night to rescue a point from the encounter.
Only time will tell if the goal will mean much in the context of the title race. However, City head into their last four Premier League games five points behind Arsenal, with a game in hand, with the title now the Gunners’ to lose.