Frustrated "Pep" vents two reasons why Man City only managed a draw with Everton, shaking up the Premier League title race.
On 5 May 2026, Pep Guardiola, manager of Manchester City, spoke after their Premier League match where they narrowly drew 3-3 with Everton, dropping crucial points in the title race against Arsenal in the final stretch.
In the first half, Man City took the lead 1-0 through Jeremy Doku, but Everton came back strongly with three goals from Theo Barry (2) and Jake O'Brien (1). The "Sky Blues" then fought back with two late goals from Erling Haaland in the 83rd minute and another from Jeremy Doku in the 90+7th minute.
After this match, Man City trails league leader Arsenal by 5 points with 4 games remaining, making the draw against Everton a potential turning point in the 2025-26 Premier League title race.
1. Arsenal (35 matches) 76 points (67 goals scored, 26 conceded, goal difference +41)
2. Man City (34 matches) 71 points (69 goals scored, 32 conceded, goal difference +37)
Pep Guardiola explained two key reasons for Man City's draw with Everton: conceding the equalizer at 1-1 due to Mark Gehi's poor back pass, punished by Theo Barry in the 68th minute, and a corner kick awarded by referee Michael Oliver which should not have been given, leading to Jake O'Brien's go-ahead goal for Everton in the 73rd minute.
The Man City manager said, "We handed them the first goal. The second goal from that corner shouldn't have been allowed. After that, the game opened up and they had chances. You make rushed decisions—it's normal because of the emotions. But without those emotions, you wouldn't be able to come back late in the game."
Regarding trailing Arsenal by 5 points despite having one game in hand, Pep said, "The situation was once in our hands, but now it is no longer. We have a game against Brentford on Saturday, and we'll see what happens."
"Getting one point is still better than none. Everton played very aggressively."