Everton’s 3-3 Everton vs Manchester City draw leaves David Moyes unsure about qualifying for Europe, despite a strong fightback and a late setback at Goodison Park that again underlined recurring issues with stoppage-time goals this season.
Moyes’ side moved from 1-1 to a 3-1 lead in the second half, yet Manchester City levelled in the 97th minute, extending Everton’s run of conceding decisive stoppage-time goals to three straight league matches, with one draw and two defeats during that spell.
When asked by Sky Sports about European hopes after the Everton vs Manchester City draw, Moyes said: “I’m not sure. I think it’s going to be tough. In the last couple of games we’ve lost games late on and [against City] we’ve drawn. It could and probably will have an impact on our final position. We let ourselves down because we defended the second goal so poorly. At half-time we would have taken the result because were hugely outplayed in the first half. The players made a great effort to get us in the game and really when we got to 3-1, we should be doing enough to see it out.”
The dramatic finish followed a frantic spell earlier in the second half. Thierno Barry struck twice, either side of a Jake O’Brien header on 72:39, soon after Barry’s equaliser on 67:55, which itself arrived after Jeremy Doku had netted in the first half for Manchester City.
That scoring burst meant only 284 seconds separated Barry’s first goal and O’Brien’s header, transforming Everton from 1-0 down to 2-1 ahead, before Barry then made it 3-1, putting the hosts in a position that Moyes felt should have been enough to secure victory.
Everton’s substitutes again influenced the Everton vs Manchester City draw. The club now has five Premier League goals from players coming off the bench this season, and every one of those has been scored by Barry or Beto, underlining how often Moyes turns games with late attacking changes.
{TABLE_1}
Barry’s double also placed the forward in select company. The striker is only the third substitute to score twice in a Premier League game against a Pep Guardiola Manchester City side, after Anthony Martial in October 2022 and Samuel Chukwueze in December 2025.
Barry urged Everton to maintain focus during the run-in after the Everton vs Manchester City draw, telling Sky Sports: “It’s always a pleasure to play against a big team like Manchester City. I’m very happy to come on and score two goals, Barry told Sky Sports. In the end, we had to settle for a draw so we need to keep pushing because there are three games left. We need to take it game by game and see where we are at the end of the season.”
The Everton vs Manchester City draw leaves Everton facing a tense final three league fixtures, with the recent pattern of late concessions and Moyes’ concerns about defensive lapses likely to weigh heavily as the club assesses its fading prospects of securing European qualification.
Get breaking news alerts.
Allow Notifications
You have already subscribed
Story first published: Tuesday, May 5, 2026, 4:44 [IST]
