A 2-2 draw was a fair result in the end at the Etihad Stadium as Manchester City largely controlled the game against Brighton, though the Seagulls’ missed chances to win it late on will live in the memory should they narrowly miss out on European competition.
Erling Haaland’s penalty – his 100th Premier League goal contribution – opened the scoring inside ten minutes, but Stefan Ortega was made to look silly when Pervis Estupiñán scored a free-kick into the less favourable side of the goal to equalise.
An Omar Marmoush cracker from outside the box gave the hosts the lead heading into the break. However, an own goal from Abdukodir Khusanov wiped that out just two minutes into the second half.
Missed chances from Yankuba Minteh and Carlos Baleba in the second half will haunt Brighton fans, who hoped of doing a league double over the champions. The point keeps both teams in good positions for their Champions League hopes, while also presenting a missed opportunity to pull away from those chasing behind them.
As it happened
Brighton started strongly and had the ball in the net after just six minutes, though the goal was quickly disallowed as Kaoru Mitoma had headed the ball out of the hands of Stefan Ortega.
Manchester City quickly punished Mitoma for not taking his chance. Adam Webster gave away a penalty when his sliding challenge brought down Omar Marmoush as he looked to cut back inside. Erling Haaland did what he does best and sent the goalkeeper the wrong way to open the scoring. It was the Norwegian’s 100th Premier League goal contribution, and to nobody’s surprise, he’s the fastest to reach that number – 94 games.
But City’s good work was undone by a clever free kick from Pervis Estupiñán. The free kick caught Ortega out as Estupiñán scored in the far side of the goal. It appeared as though Ortega had time to recover despite taking a step the wrong way, but was made to look silly as he stood watching the ball go in off the post.
Embed from Getty ImagesCity were wasteful in their pursuit of the lead. Savinho visibly frustrated Pep Guardiola when he missed two great chances. But Marmoush returned a smile to his manager’s face with a superb strike from outside the box following a high turnover.
João Pedro had a chance to level the game before half time. A mistake from the Cityzens’ back line gifted a chance to the Brighton striker, but his shot went very narrowly wide of the right post.
Just like the reverse fixture in November, Manchester City went into half time with a one goal lead.
However, that lead was wiped out immediately. A good chance led to a corner a minute into the half. The delivery was poor, but Webster headed the ball back into the mix; it fell to Jack Hinshelwood whose shot on the turn went in off Khusanov to make it 2-2.
Somehow, Yankuba Minteh didn’t give Brighton the lead shortly after. Pedro crossed the ball along the six-yard box and it went through the Gambian’s legs as he attempted to shoot with an open net in front of him.
City were in control for most of the second half, but Brighton defended well, not allowing the home side any huge chances. The champions’ best chance came from a corner when Nico González’s header hit the post. Brighton countered from this chance, but Hinshelwood made a poor decision to shoot rather than pass to a teammate for a tap in.
The Seagulls should have won this game in the last ten minutes with another counter attack. Pedro found the untracked Carlos Baleba, but the midfielder skied his shot under no pressure: a massive let off for City, preventing a repeat of November’s game between these two.
Manchester City will stay in fifth place this weekend with the point, but their Champions League hopes may have suffered a dent as they failed to take the chance to create a gap to the chasing pack.
Brighton also stays in the same position they started the day on, 7th, but could drop down to eighth should Bournemouth beat Brentford in the late kick off. It’s a missed opportunity to leapfrog Manchester City and Newcastle United, who don’t play a Premier League game this weekend, into fifth place with a win.
The lineups
MCI: Ortega; Lewis, Khusanov, Dias, Gvardiol; Gundogan, Nico; Savinho, Marmoush, Doku; Haaland
BHA: Verbruggen; Hinshelwood, van Hecke, Webster, Estupiñán; Baleba, Gomez; Minteh, Rutter, Mitoma; Pedro