Manchester City’s defence of their Premier League crown suffered another setback on Wednesday as they were held to a third consecutive draw, this time by Brighton & Hove Albion in a 1-1 stalemate at the Etihad Stadium. The result leaves City five points behind leaders Arsenal, who have 48 points and face Liverpool in a pivotal top-of-the-table clash.
The hosts opened the scoring four minutes before halftime when Erling Haaland converted from the penalty spot after Jeremy Doku was brought down by Diego Gomez. The decision was confirmed by VAR, and Haaland made no mistake, scoring his 150th goal for Manchester City and his 20th in the Premier League this season, ending a three-game scoring drought.
City appeared on course to secure all three points when Bernardo Silva struck the post early in the second half after pouncing on a Brighton error. The match became contentious when goalkeepers Gianluigi Donnarumma and Maxim De Cuyper clashed, with both receiving yellow cards for their involvement.
Brighton drew level in the 60th minute through Kaoru Mitoma, who demonstrated excellent technique to guide a low shot into the bottom corner from just outside the box. The equaliser transformed the match, with Brighton taking control and dictating the tempo as City struggled to respond.
The visitors dominated after equalising and came within inches of claiming all three points when Mitoma’s angled shot from near the byline struck the post. In the final moments, Haaland had a clear opportunity to win the match for City, but Brighton goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen produced a magnificent save to deny him, leaving City’s championship defence looking increasingly vulnerable.