Shock in Liverpool leaves a significant dent. "It's no longer in our hands," admits Guardiola

The "Citizens" now find themselves needing Arsenal, the league leaders, to slip up. They trail by five points with three games remaining, though they do have a game in hand.

"It's no longer in our hands. It was before, but not anymore. We still have a few matches left. We'll see what happens," Guardiola stated.

Despite this, the visitors dominated the first half, with Jeremy Doku putting them ahead in the 43rd minute with a superb left-footed curling shot into the far corner. However, the second half saw a complete shift in momentum. Substitute Thierno Barry injected fresh energy, equalizing just four minutes after coming on. In the 73rd minute, defender Jake O'Brien put Everton in front, and Barry then extended their lead to 3-1.

The stunned favorites could only salvage a point in the dying moments. Norwegian striker Erling Haaland pulled one back, and Doku secured a share of the spoils with his second goal of the match in the seventh minute of added time. This result ended City's run of three consecutive league victories.

"We delivered a really good performance. We played wonderfully in the first half. It was tough for us due to the opponent's physicality. In the second half, perhaps we didn't control the ball as much. After conceding, the home side got back into the game and turned it into a typical English match, aggressive in individual duels.

A draw is better than a loss, but, of course, we wanted to win, and we played to win," Guardiola assessed the match for Sky Sports.

His team will next host Brentford on Saturday, while Arsenal will face London rivals West Ham a day later. City must now hope for a stumble from the "Gunners." If Arsenal win their remaining three league matches, they will end their 22-year wait for an English title.

"We still have four Premier League games ahead. First, Brentford, which will be a similar match to Everton, because the opponent is strong. We'll see what happens," added the Spanish manager.

Everton's hopes for European qualification remain alive; the point moved them up to tenth place. They are now three points behind seventh-placed Brentford, who currently hold a spot in the Conference League.

"Of course, we went into the game believing in a good result. We lost the game at the end because we defended poorly on the second goal. That was probably the main reason," commented "Toffees" manager David Moyes, who was not satisfied with the draw: "After the first half, we would have taken this result because the opponent clearly outplayed us then.

I wanted us to engage more in tackles, to be closer to the City players. But it didn't work; they played really well. However, my players put in a great performance and fought their way back into the game. Of course, at 3-1, we should have managed it better."