Manchester City have lost ground in the English Premier League (EPL) title race following a 3-3 draw with Everton in their league encounter at Hill Dickinson Stadium on Monday.

Despite a late comeback to draw 3-3, Manchester City dropped two points in the title race away to Everton on Monday night, leaving them five behind Premier League leaders Arsenal.

City still have a game in hand on the leaders, so they can cut that gap to two points with a win over Brentford on Saturday. But they can no longer catch Arsenal unless the Gunners drop points in their final three matches.

Speaking after the match, Pep Guardiola reflected on the state of the title race following his team’s latest dropped points.

“It was in our hands, in Arsenal’s hands as well before that game, depends on the goals conceded. Now it’s not,” Guardiola admitted.

“We have to win our games. Now it’s not in our hands, if they win all the games, the title will be for Arsenal.

“So what we have to do is win our games, recover well, and then to have a series of games, three days, three days, three days. This is what we have to do.

“Brentford, recover and go for them, and after, Crystal Palace, and FA Cup final, and game by game it will happen.”

The encouraging thing for Arsenal fans is that City have slipped up at the first hurdle in these final five games, with the Gunners already having secured two wins.

The pressure is certainly on City to get a result against a high-flying Brentford side on Saturday, and the team still have to go away to Bournemouth in the final week of the season as well.

As for Arsenal, the Gunners have the midweek distraction of a Champions League semi-final, but they’ll then turn their attentions to a huge away game against relegation-battling West Ham United.

The Hammers have been in better form lately, and they desperately need the win, so it’s unlikely to be an easy three points.

From Everton's perspective, Doku's late goal marked the third injury-time goal they have conceded in their last three games, following previous defeats to Liverpool and West Ham.

Their propensity for running out of steam late in matches, potentially due to manager David Moyes making the fewest substitutions and using the fewest players of any Premier League team this season, looks set to be costly in their pursuit of European qualification.

Manchester City, despite extending their unbeaten run to 12 league games, accumulating more points (25) than any other side during this period, are left the most disappointed by Monday's encounter.

Guardiola acknowledged the shift in momentum, stating, "We played outstanding in the first half... Second half, [Everton] made a step up and we maybe weren't as aggressive and after, of course, we gave away the goal. ...

We take the point and until it's over, we will continue. It's not in our hands. Before it was, now it's not. We have games left. We will see what happens."

While City players have often demonstrated their ability to grow into title races, a miscued late effort from substitute Phil Foden, named PFA Players' Player of the Year the last time his club won the title in 2023-24, highlighted that this may not be the infallible City side of old.

With a Champions League semifinal against Atletico Madrid looming, Arsenal now holds the power to make this season one for the record books.

City must remain in contention, ready to capitalize if the Gunners falter, suggesting that this season's title race could indeed go right down to the wire, given the dramatic finale on Monday night.