Erling Haaland returned to scoring form with his 150th Manchester City goal – but his side’s Premier League title challenge is falling apart, with Brighton holding them to a third consecutive draw.
Pep Guardiola’s men have endured an underwhelming start to the year, with poor results and injuries to key players handing the initiative to Arsenal, who could go eight points clear at the top if they beat Liverpool on Thursday.
Brighton were looking to capitalise on City’s makeshift backline and Pascal Gross found room to thump a header at goal which was clawed out by Gianluigi Donnarumma, with the German unable to convert the follow-up.
Georginio Rutter then released Ferdi Kadioglu with a pass from the halfway line, but the Turkey international could only shoot straight at the towering Italian goalkeeper Donnarumma.
The Seagulls were exploiting gaps in the opposition defence – Rutter ran clear himself to bear down on goal but was denied by Abdukodir Khusanov’s brilliant, last-ditch challenge.
But Brighton failed the most of their chances and paid for that as City took a 41st-minute lead.
Star man Haaland converted a penalty, and scored the Premier League 35,000th goal since its 1992 inception, after Jeremy Doku was brought down in the box by Diego Gomez – the referee only awarding the spot-kick after reviewing it on the pitchside monitor.
Captain Bernardo Silva clipped the post in the second half as the hosts looked to stretch their lead, but Fabian Hurzeler’s men hit back through Kaoru Mitoma’s lovely finish from the edge of the area.
Gomez incredibly missed when picked out by Mitoma a couple of yards from goal, and both sides had to settle for a point.
In the space of a week, City’s quest to regain a Premier League trophy that they have lifted six times in the past eight seasons has fallen away badly because of three successive draws.
They failed to score at Sunderland, conceded a late goal against Chelsea on Sunday and were unable to hold on to their lead against Brighton on Wednesday.
The two-point deficit they faced on 1 January will reach eight if Mikel Arteta’s men win their crucial meeting against Liverpool on Thursday.
Injuries to Josko Gvardiol, Ruben Dias and John Stones left Guardiola to cobble together a makeshift backline, handing a debut to 20-year-old academy product Max Alleyne after recalling him from on loan at Watford, and partnering him with 21-year-old Uzbek Abdukodir Khusanov.
The flat atmosphere from the crowd appeared to seep on to the pitch, with the players unable to find any real rhythm, as City failed to hold on to an advantage for a second successive home game.
This was only the third time in Guardiola’s illustrious managerial career that he has drawn three straight games but they did come close to snatching the win as they pushed on in the second half.
Haaland, who had notched his landmark goal in the opening period, flicked a header which was cleared off the line and then saw a low effort kept out by Bart Verbruggen before firing into the side netting.
City, who faced a few jeers at the end, look far from the side who ended 2025 with eight straight wins – and Guardiola has work to do to galvanise his depleted squad.
Brighton and their hearty following all the way from the south coast will be left disappointed with a draw – City were there for the taking but they were unable to get the job done.
How they did not score in the first half will be a mystery – they were provided with gilt-edged opportunities which other teams visiting Etihad Stadium can only dream of.
Kadioglu and Rutter were both guilty but Mitoma did manage to draw them level with a delightful strike, rolled into the bottom corner out of the reach of Donnarumma.
Boss Hurzeler and counterpart Guardiola had plenty of words to say to each other on the touchline during the game, and the pair sharing words too at full-time as Brighton extended their unbeaten run against City to four meetings.
Manchester City: Pep Guardiola’s side host Exeter in the third round of the FA Cup on Saturday (kick-off 15:00 GMT).
Brighton: Fabian Hurzeler’s men travel to Manchester United in the same competition on Sunday (16:30).
