Title-chasing Manchester City dropped points for the third straight game when Brighton drew 1-1 on Wednesday.
Erling Haaland’s 150th goal, courtesy of a penalty, put them on course to return to winning ways after draws against Sunderland and Chelsea, but Kaoru Mitoma’s first goal since September brought more frustration.
The result at the Etihad Stadium means Premier League leaders Arsenal will have the chance to move eight points clear when they host champions Liverpool on Thursday.
Haaland and Rayan Cherki missed good chances to win the match in the end.
It has been a difficult start to 2026 for City, with central defenders Josko Gvardiol and Rúben Dias also suffering significant injuries.
With John Stones also on the sidelines, City were forced to field an unknown pairing at the back: 21-year-old Abdukodir Khusanov and debutant Max Alleyne.
Alleyne, the 20-year-old son of former England cricketer Mark, was hastily recalled from his loan spell at Watford this week.
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Perhaps sensing a weakness in City’s defensive line, Brighton started positively and the recently renewed Pascal Gross had a header saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma before Ferdi Kadioglu was also denied by the goalkeeper.
City were largely limited to half-chances in a quiet opening with Bernardo Silva tamely firing past Bart Verbruggen and Haaland shooting wide.
The hosts were spooked when Georginio Rutter forced his way towards goal, but Khusanov ran back to block his shot.
The calm atmosphere changed drastically shortly before half-time when Jérémy Doku fell in the area after a challenge from Diego Gómez.
The City bench reacted furiously when referee Thomas Bramall signaled play to continue with substitute Rodri leading the complaints. Coach Pep Guardiola was reprimanded for his reaction and for arguing with his counterpart Fabián Hurzeler.
Their protests were not in vain, however, as Bramall was called to the pitch monitor to review his decision and a penalty was eventually awarded.
Haaland made no mistake as he drilled his shot into the bottom corner and soon after Tijjani Reijnders managed to clear a shot off the line.
Silva also came close after the restart when he took advantage of a pass from Yasin Ayari but his shot hit the outside of the post.
City rueed those misses when Mitoma, making his second start since being sidelined for two months with injury in the fall, slotted a low shot into the bottom corner from the edge of the box.
Things could have immediately taken a turn for the worse for City when Mitoma burst into the box and presented Diego Gomez with a golden opportunity in front of goal.
Surprisingly, he missed and the ball escaped Donnarumma, Mitoma and the post to safety.
City threatened again from a corner, but Haaland’s header was cleared by Kadioglu and the Norwegian made a flagrant mistake shortly after.
This time Cherki took advantage of a careless pass from Brighton to feed the striker, but fired straight at Verbruggen.
Substitute Cherki could also have done better when he fired over as time ran out.
PA information was used in this report.
