Alan Shearer has confidently backed Arsenal to end their 22-year wait for Premier League glory after Manchester City were held to a 3-3 draw away to Everton. Arsenal swept Fulham aside to move six points clear at the weekend, with Viktor Gyokeres scoring twice and Bukayo Saka also netting in a convincing performance at the Emirates.
Boasting two games in hand over the Gunners, City had the chance to halve the gap at the top of the table at the Hill Dickinson Stadium on Monday night. But after Jeremy Doku broke the deadlock in the 43rd minute, Everton regrouped and wrestled momentum in their favour thanks to a pair of second-half goals from Thierno Barry and Jake O’Brien. The Toffees appeared on course for a famous win as substitute Barry added another to increase the deficit, only for Erling Haaland and Doku to make it all square with two well-taken strikes in the closing stages.
The result means Arsenal hold a five-point advantage at the summit ahead of their clash with West Ham this weekend. Mikel Arteta will no doubt be praying his players come through tonight’s Champions League tie with Atletico Madrid victorious and unscathed ahead of the trip to the London Stadium.
Shearer’s verdict
Asked if he expects any further twists in this season’s title race, ex-England striker Shearer told The Rest Is Football podcast: “No, because I think Arsenal will win all three games. When you think about it, Mikel Arteta and his Arsenal players now are five games away from being legends of that football club forever. They can win the Champions League and they can win the Premier League. Win three in the Premier League and they’re done, win two in the Champions League and they’re champions… five games away!”
Shearer, the Premier League’s all-time top goalscorer, added: “Manchester City have got a couple of tough fixtures, Bournemouth away being one of them. It was a big, big night for Arsenal last night, a big night.”
Everton’s performance
Shearer is confident Everton could have quite easily beaten City had it not been for Gianluigi Donnarumma’s contribution between the sticks on Merseyside. “It was a brilliant game. The energy, the tackles and everything else was just incredible,” the former Newcastle and Blackburn forward explained. “I thought Everton were just outstanding, particularly in the second half with how they got wired in and every single player was at it. They could have had a couple more but for two or three brilliant saves from Gianluigi Donnarumma, but you have to hand it to Manchester City for coming back in the way they did.”
Shearer went on: “That Haaland goal about four or five seconds after kick-off was the turning point, once they got that you just knew that was going to happen. The two goals from Jeremy Doku were outrageous, brilliant. Without doubt, Arsenal would have snapped your hands off and been praying for any other result than a City win, but in the way it happened I guess they felt it may have been better. But it was a brilliant night for Arsenal in the end.”
City’s defensive issues
According to Shearer, City are an altogether different prospect compared to what they have been in recent years under Pep Guardiola. “Manchester City are not the same defensively, they do give you chances,” he continued. “A lot of the time teams haven’t taken chances, fine. Everton scored three, it could have been five last night and should have been actually.”
After his side’s slip-up at Everton, a defiant Guardiola reassured City fans that his squad would keep on fighting despite the title no longer being in their hands. “We take the point and until it’s over, we’re going to continue,” Guardiola said. “It’s better than a loss. We played to win. It just shows what the team are. We tried and we have done it. It’s not in our hands. Before it was in our hands. Now, no. We have to do it in our four games that we have in the Premier League. It will be quite similar against Brentford. We will see what happens.”
