Manchester City slipped seven points behind Premier League leaders Arsenal after Demarai Gray's stupendous finish earned Everton a battling 1-1 draw at the Etihad Stadium
Gray's bolt from the blue breathed life into Frank Lampard's side and simultaneously hampered City's title charge on the final day of 2022
Erling Haaland made space for himself on 24 minutes to convert Riyad Mahrez's cross to make it an astonishing 21 Premier League goals in his first 15 appearances
But Everton levelled with their first shot of the match in the second half as Gray regained his footing to cut inside Manuel Ajankji and find the far corner via the underside of Ederson's crossbar (64) with an unstoppable rocket
"We showed a lot of personality and work ethic," Lampard said
 "When you play a team of City's level, you understand what's coming
 If you open up against them, they put you to bed so we had to have a certain style and the players kept to that and scored a goal
 It's very hard but they did it
"We had to not give them the space they wanted
 I thought we were pretty good at that
 We had some great blocks and defending too
 When you stay in the game you have a bit of belief and you just need some moments
 We got a special moment
"The result handed Arsenal the opportunity to move seven points clear of City when they faced Brighton later on New Year's Eve - which they duly took with a ninth win in their last 10 Premier League games courtesy of an entertaining 4-2 victory
Everton stay in 16th, two points above the relegation zone after ending their four-game losing run in all competitions
Lampard has come under pressure following the late home defeat to Wolves on Boxing Day, but this was a display brimming with fighting spirit that underscored the belief his players still have in his stewardship
Lampard made four changes to his starting line-up with some of them enforced due to illness
 Anthony Gordon and Yerry Mina couldn't shake off a bug but Dominic Calvert-Lewin's first start since early November was a welcome boost
Lampard called on his side to show pride and personality in their performance - but it was City who broke the deadlock on 24 minutes
 Rodri won the ball back off Alex Iwobi and after Nathan Ake fed Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne combined inside with Jack Grealish before Riyad Mahrez was found in space on the right
The Algerian dummied inside Vitaliy Mykolenko before laying the ball back for Haaland to tuck home from close range despite Conor Coady's best efforts on the line
By then, Mahrez had already been unfortunate not to have been awarded a penalty when Idrissa Gueye nibbled at his feet inside the box but City came close to doubling their lead on the stroke of half-time
John Stones lost Calvert-Lewin at a Kevin De Bruyne free-kick and thudded his header against the post
 From the loose ball, Haaland caught Mykolenko with a late challenge which earned the Norwegian a booking despite Jordan Pickford leading the protests for stiffer punishment
There was a six-minute delay early in the second period after a malfunctioning ear-piece in one of the assistant referees, but after the technical glitch, it was Everton who dealt an unlikely hammer blow
 Rodri was slack in possession as Gueye fed Gray down the left
 The returning winger used Mykolenko as a decoy to drift inside Akanji before unleashing an unerring strike beyond Ederson
"Demarai's talent is there and that finish is in him," added Lampard
 "We need to keep telling him to shoot from those areas
 It was a special moment and sometimes you need that there
 Demarai is a hugely talented player but I'd love for him to get a few more tap-ins
"It was only Gray's second Premier League goal of the season and first away from home since August 2021 against Brighton but he is a player capable of providing moments of brilliance, and this was a late Christmas gift to those embattled Everton supporters
"As soon as it left my foot, I kind of knew," Gray said afterwards
Frustration started to build for the hosts as Everton looked to play down the clock and Tom Davies replaced the impressive Gueye
With seven minutes remaining, Pickford made a brilliant save to deny Mahrez's deflected effort
 The danger was still not averted as Rodri's shot from a cutback was brilliantly blocked by James Tarkowski
Eleven additional minutes were signalled - and in the final seconds of that allotted timeframe it was the unmarked Rodri who rose to inexplicably head Mahrez's cross wide as Everton held on for an unlikely point
City have now failed to win back-to-back home league games for the first time since May 2021, when they lost against Leeds and Chelsea
Manchester City boss : "We played really well
 We played good football in all departments
 We won the second balls but we couldn't win
"We've dropped five points at home in the last two games which is always tough to take
 I would say they had eight at the back
 Brentford played in the same shape but we couldn't control their long balls and their second balls
 We allowed them one chance and it was a fantastic goal, you have to say 'congratulations' but in general what we did was really good
"The body language of the players against Leeds was amazing and gave me confidence
 I saw how they were on the pitch so I kept with most of them
 Rico [Lewis] looks like he's the best in every game
 He's so smart and helps the way we want to play the game, creating chances and controlling the game
"The best Everton was for 10 minutes in the first half and then they scored a fantastic goal from a counter-attack
 We needed to score the second goal
"Everton boss : "The quality of the finish was top drawer
 Demarai wants more of that and I do
 It got us the point
 You ride your luck a tiny bit of course
 We deserved more last week after the result
 Sometimes football pays you back in different ways
"We have two home games in the league and we need to go and get some points but we have to fight for every bit of it
 It's a big point for us
"We stayed in the game and we got what we deserved
 People are waiting for you so we had to defend ourselves with the performance
 After the Wolves game, it was all negative, but with football you have to wait for your day to respond
 We've not achieved anything yet but we have to take this result forward against Brighton
"Manchester City are back in action on Thursday, January 5, when they travel to Chelsea, live on ; kick-off 8pm
Meanwhile, Everton's next assignment is on Tuesday, January 3
 They host Brighton at Goodison Park; kick-off 7
45pm
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