Any Evertonian optimism generated by Beto’s confirmed return to the starting lineup was tempered by a dominant start from the visitors. Rayan Cherki fired at Pickford, before Antoine Semenyo rolled a ball across the face of goal on the rebound.
Although Semenyo then fired wildly over on 21’, it seemed a matter of time before Everton would crack, and prolong their nine-year wait for a H2H success.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall gave Everton a fleeting glimpse of hope in the 25th minute, as Abdukodir Khusanov deflected a shot on the counter wide.
That seemed to briefly ignite the Toffees, and they had an even better chance soon after, when Merlin Rohl found Beto inside the box, but Gianluigi Donnarumma got a desperate, vital hand to the ball.
City heeded that warning shot and resumed their former stride, and they finally forged ahead three minutes before the break, when Cherki squared the ball back to Jeremy Doku, who curled a shot from the edge of the area high into the net past Pickford’s despairing dive.
That didn’t spark an immediate change in the momentum after half-time as City continued to dictate the tempo, but the next two real chances both fell to Iliman Ndiaye at the end of Everton counters.
On the first occasion, he was marshalled to ensure that his shot lacked the power to beat Donnarumma low to his right, before finding himself put clean through by an errant bounce, only for the Italian to commit and deny him a leveller with a point-blank save low to his left.
Just minutes after Thierno Barry joined the fray in place of Beto, Everton equalised in surreal circumstances. Marc Guehi’s interception of Rohl’s attempted through ball seemed straightforward enough, but his backpass was botched and Barry was able to nip in and roll the ball low past Donnarumma into the bottom-left corner.
With City surrendering the lead so needlessly, their former composure was diminished, yet Guehi somewhat atoned by thwarting Ndiaye at the near post with 20 minutes to play.
But that was a fleeting reprieve, with Jake O’Brien completing the turnaround from the subsequent corner, heading in at the near post from James Garner’s inswinger.
Ndiaye should have finished the game as a contest on 75’, but fired straight at Donnarumma when played through.
Where the Senegalese forward failed, Barry once more succeeded, as Rohl burst down the right flank after escaping the attentions of Mateo Kovacic. His cross-shot deflected into the path of Barry, who tapped in.
However, City immediately halved the deficit, with Erling Haaland bursting through and lobbing Pickford.
As expected, City then poured forward in their desperation to salvage something, knowing a loss would leave their title chances hanging by a thread.
They got the goal they were looking for in the dying seconds of the clash, as Doku received the ball from a corner and fired into the far-right corner of Pickford's net.
Despite the late point, City may well see this as the night the apprentice finally beat the master, with the PL title surely now Arsenal’s to lose.