Man City Drop Points, Arsenal Edge Close To The Title 

0:00Alan Shearer:It's time to refresh your yard during spring backyard days at the Home Depot. Get low prices guaranteed on propane grills starting at$179, like the Nexgrill 3-Burner Gas Grill. Or get$50 off a select Weber Spirit Grill and bring big flavor to your backyard. Then set the scene with Hampton Bay String Lights that bring it all together. Shop spring backyard days for seven days at the Home Depot, now through May 6th. Exclusion Supply, see homedepot.com slash price match for details. Ready to soundtrack your summer? With Red Bull Summer All Day Play, you choose a playlist that fits your summer vibe the best.

0:38Are you a festival fanatic, a deep end DJ, a road dog, or a trail mixer? Just add a song to your chosen playlist and put your summer on track. Red Bull Summer All Day Play. Red Bull gives you wings. Visit redbull.com slash bright summer ahead to learn more. See you this summer.

0:57Alan Shearer:This episode is powered by Fuse Energy. Before we kick off a quick pre-match warm-up from Fuse, a question on the teams and players who make things count. Which Premier League players scored the most goals as a substitute in 24-25? Duran is my answer. It's not Duran. It's either Muniz or Wilson. I'm going to go Wilson then. Well, you're both wrong. It's Muniz. Goodness. So the winner is the person that is closest to guessing the number of goals that Rodrigo Muniz scored coming off the bench last season. Six. I'll go one up then, seven. The answer is six. Yes! Oh, it's the winner. Well done, man.

1:43Alan Shearer:The best teams find an edge wherever they can. It should be the same with your energy. Take control of your energy like it's part of your game plan. Sign up at FuseEnergy.com slash football using code FUTBALL, all uppercase, to save on your energy bill. And get the chance to ask us your football question on the pod, full terms and conditions, at FuseEnergy.com.

2:17Alan Shearer:Hello and welcome to the Rest is Football with Michael Richards, Alan Shearer and me, Gary Lineker. We thought we'd pop on because of, well, last night's game really between Manchester City and Everton, where the title race was kind of flipping to and fro throughout the night. Me and this donut was doing Match of the Day the other night on Sunday. We actually had fun. I thought Alex Alistair was brilliant as usual. However, we fought Everton away. Me and I were speaking. We were saying, it's a tough game that. And someone, I'm not going to name names because I don't want to call them out, saying Everton's record against Man City the last nine games is terrible.

2:58So we thought it was going to be a tough game going to Everton, but they convinced us it wasn't going to be a tough game because of the stats. This is why the stats. You can't always look at the stats. You've got to use your eyes. So me and Alan have gone, oh, no, City will win that easy. No problem because of the stats. And then look what goes and happens.

3:17Alan Shearer:You both said, really, that there'll be twists and turns and not given both teams will win all their games. And so it proved to be, Alan.

3:25Gary Lineker:Yeah, I didn't think both teams would go through the rest of the season and win every single game. It just doesn't happen like that, I don't think. not when the pressure's on as much as it is and teams are... Apart from when it was City and Liverpool that time. Yeah, that was very different though, wasn't it? That was incredible. But I just felt for this season, it just wasn't going to happen. I mean, it was a brilliant game. The energy and the tackles and everything else was just incredible. Everton, I thought, were outstanding, particularly the second half. I mean, how they got wired in and every single player was at it.

3:56Gary Lineker:They could have had a couple more, but for two or three brilliant saves from Donnarumma. but then you have to hand it to Man City for coming back in the way they did and that Haaland goal about three or four seconds after kick-off was the turning point, wasn't it? Once they got that, you felt, because you knew there was going to be injury time. You just knew that that was going to happen. The two goals from Dockers were outrageous. They were brilliant. So you can imagine Mikel Arteta and the Arsenal players sat there. I mean, without doubt, they would have snapped your hands off and been praying for any other result than a City win.

4:33Gary Lineker:But in the way it happened, I guess they think, oh, maybe it could have been better. But a brilliant night for Arsenal in the end. What happened with Man City? Why are they conceding three goals? What went wrong? Obviously, I saw the highlights when I got back from Borla League, but it looked like there was mistakes that they don't usually make. Was that caused by, you said Everton were good. Did they press high? What was the game like?

4:58Alan Shearer:Well, Everton sat primarily, particularly in the first half, very deep. But City were vulnerable to the counter-attack. Second half, it was a different game, really. City were very dominant in the first half. They didn't create that many chances. And obviously, it's difficult when a team sits really deep. And, you know, they did the thing where they passed the ball, regurgitated, and the others lose a lot of that. Whereas they didn't get the ball in the box. Haaland hardly touched the ball. but you know they were very much on top and in the end a moment of absolute brilliance from Jeremy Docku bending it in the top corner with that left foot and then you thought it gets to half time and you thought well Everton will have to push up a little bit now so you fancy City to bang a few more in but it didn't happen like that and City it's a bit like many City performances I think particularly perhaps we look at last season and one or two games this season as well they're still vulnerable aren't they to teams that counter against them.

5:55Alan Shearer:Having said that, even before their first goal, they had missed a couple of chances. Undai missed a really good chance. Brilliant bit of goalkeeping, a couple of occasions from Donnarumma, but you would have expected him to score because he's such a really good, talented player. But I think the turning point was the Mark Gay back pass. I mean, it was so unlike him. He looked in shock when he did it. In his defence, he made an incredible tackle after that to stop another goal. But it was just one of those things, just a kind of unforced error. But Everton did look dangerous every attack they made, didn't they, Al?

6:30Gary Lineker:I thought when Man City were leading, it was a case of they didn't know whether to stick or twist. They were quite content to, well, we've got the vast majority passing. We'll just keep on passing it and passing it. And then all of a sudden, Everton score. The Everton fans go mad and it's a brilliant atmosphere. And then they're playing on the front foot. They've got energy. you know what a goal does to change a game. And Everton are now got all the energy, got all the belief, and they're piling forward. And then all of a sudden, Man City think, fuck, we're actually in massive trouble here. They conceded the second one, they conceded the third one, and it was like, oh, goodness me.

7:08Gary Lineker:And then it was that Haaland goal after two or three seconds after the third goal, you're thinking, I think I know what's going to happen here.

7:15Alan Shearer:I was thinking they might even go out and turn around completely, but that would have been absurd. I mean, interesting stat. I know you love stats, Mike. Manchester City have dropped the joint most points from winning positions in the Premier League since the turn of the year. 12, level with Spurs. And, Alan? Newcastle. Oh, you can get Newcastle in. Brilliant.

7:38Gary Lineker:I didn't bring it in this time.

7:39Alan Shearer:He did. Well, I didn't mention that. I allowed you to. I allowed you to. And we saw that, didn't we, last season? I mean, they're not, as we've said many times, They're not quite the city when they were going hammer and tongs with Liverpool down the stretch. And they're a work in progress. And Rodri wasn't playing again. And I think, you know, he was starting to come back to where we, you know, the Rodri of the past. So I think that was a miss for them. But yeah, they just, I mean, it's funny. In the first half, I was talking with the lads downstairs, a couple of my boys were here. and saying how good that partnership looks like it might be with Kusinov and Mark Gay.

8:25Alan Shearer:Because the first half, they were very dominant in Everton. Although they did have one chance early on Everton, but you thought they were solid. But in front of them, it's not quite the same and they're still vulnerable on that counter-attack.

8:36Gary Lineker:I mean, Gay, he makes the error. Kusinov made a couple of mistakes and that's when Ndi should have punished one of them when he took the ball off him for that good see of poor missile. Yeah, they're not the same defensively. They do give you chances. I think a lot of the times teams haven't taken chances. Fine, that's there. And Everton scored three, could have been five last night. Should have been, actually. So, bigger picture, guys, now. What are we thinking? Arsenal. Do you think there's another twist, Alan? No, because I think Arsenal will win all three games.

9:04Alan Shearer:Well, if they do, they will be Premier League champions for the first time for a long, long time.

9:11Gary Lineker:When you think about Mikel Arteta and his Arsenal players now are five games. We're doing this on Tuesday before the Champions League. Five games away from being legends of that football club forever. Forever. I mean, they can win the Champions League and we can win the Premier League. Win three in the Premier League, they're done. Win two in the Champions League. It's like five games away.

9:35Alan Shearer:It's a double the club's never done. Despite the huge success in the past, obviously many, many times have been successful from way back when up until, you know, the George Graham days and Arsene Wenger days, but none of them, none of those coaches have ever won this particular double. Five games are weird, guys. Don't you think it's weird, though? And people question the leadership, don't they, of Arsenal? People always question everything. Yeah, but they question the, can they get over the line, the style of play and all those sort of things. but actually they're getting over the line you know they could get over the line and yes at times it's not been pretty yes you want a little bit more firepower from up front but ultimately they've done what they've needed to do yes they've had a little bit of help it's been in Man City's hands if they would have won last night well it was a straight shootout wasn't it it was 50-50 now they've got the advantage again now they need to they need to take it by the scruff of the neck and just say okay we can go win against Atletico tonight no problem you look at that squad there's nothing they can worry about they can beat West Ham although West Ham are fighting for their lives they actually are fighting for their safety in in the Premier League they don't want championship football no nobody wants that do they but now they just need to go and do that they need to believe it and show to everyone that they can do it because when people are constantly questioning in have they got the leadership?

11:09Have they got the mindset? Are they going to bottle it again? Now's the time to

11:13Alan Shearer:shut everybody up, isn't it? Got to do you talking on the field and everyone will have opinions and the noise and all this, but what a position they're in. West Ham away, which, as you quite rightly said, I think of the three fixtures, probably the most difficult. Burnley at home, already relegated. Crystal Palace away, almost certainly will be in the final of the Conference League, which will be there final.

11:38Gary Lineker:So he'll rest players, there's no doubt if they're in the final, which it looks as if they're going to be, he'll rest players so I think if they win this weekend against West Ham it's almost done.

11:48Alan Shearer:Tonight is huge tonight is huge, the game against Atletico, just for their mental strength really, if they can win tonight, the belief will be huge because they'll have both things to go for. If they stutter tonight and Atletico somehow managed to win and they're a tough opposition, especially with Diego Simeone. It won't be easy. But if they don't do it tonight, then that adds to the pressure going into that game at West Ham. But, you know, they're almost there. They're almost there. And the only way to really silence everybody's doubts is to do it. And that's, by the way, that's us presuming

12:31Gary Lineker:that Man City are going to win every single game as well, which they'd have to do indeed so they've got they've got a couple of tough fixtures Bournemouth away being one of them yeah that is a hard game so yeah it was a big big night for Arsenal last night big night

12:45Alan Shearer:big night for them tonight but what a couple of weeks it might be at the end of the season we shall see thanks for jumping on Micah and Alan for this episode goodbye from me goodbye from me

13:03Thank you.