Manchester City’s inability to convert chances cost them dearly on Wednesday as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Brighton & Hove Albion at the Etihad Stadium. The dropped points represent City’s third consecutive league draw and see them fall further behind in the title race, now trailing Arsenal by five points with the Gunners sitting on 48 points.
Erling Haaland gave City the lead from the penalty spot four minutes before the interval, after Jeremy Doku was fouled by Diego Gomez inside the area. VAR confirmed the decision, and Haaland confidently dispatched the penalty to reach his 150th goal for Manchester City, ending a three-game scoring drought and taking his Premier League tally to 20 goals for the season.
City appeared to be in control when Bernardo Silva struck the post early in the second half following a Brighton error. The match became heated when goalkeepers Gianluigi Donnarumma and Maxim De Cuyper were involved in an altercation, with both players shown yellow cards by the referee.
Brighton equalised in the 60th minute through the impressive Kaoru Mitoma, who received a pass from the wing and calmly slotted home from the edge of the box. The goal transformed the match, with Brighton growing in confidence and beginning to dictate proceedings as City struggled to reassert their authority.
The visitors came agonisingly close to securing all three points when Mitoma’s effort from a tight angle rattled the post. In the final moments, Haaland was presented with a clear opportunity to win the match, but Brighton goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen produced a superb save to deny him. City’s frustration was evident as they failed to capitalise on their dominance and were forced to settle for a point that does little to aid their title ambitions.