Brighton & Hove Albion fought back twice to draw 2-2 at Manchester City as the two clubs continue to battle for UEFA Champions League qualification.
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Pep Guardiola's hosts knew a victory would take them above fourth-placed Chelsea, while Brighton had the chance to leapfrog Man City, but both sides had to settle for a point.
Erling Haaland converted from the penalty spot and Omar Marmoush scored with a 20-yard drive either side of Pervis Estupinan's wonderful free-kick.
However, Abdukodir Khusanov's own goal made it 2-2 early in the second half and Brighton missed a big chance to score a late winner.
Brighton remain seventh in the table, one point behind Man City, who stay fifth.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Liverpool
LIV
|
29 | +42 | 70 |
| 2 |
Arsenal
ARS
|
28 | +28 | 55 |
| 3 |
Nott'm Forest
NFO
|
29 | +14 | 54 |
| 4 |
Chelsea
CHE
|
28 | +17 | 49 |
| 5 |
Man City
MCI
|
29 | +15 | 48 |
| 6 |
Newcastle
NEW
|
28 | +9 | 47 |
| 7 |
Brighton
BHA
|
29 | +6 | 47 |
How the match unfolded
Brighton thought they had a sixth-minute opener when Kaoru Mitoma bundled the ball home, but referee Simon Hooper ruled he had nodded the ball out of Stefan Ortega's hands.
Man City swiftly hit the front at the other end when Adam Webster conceded a penalty with his scything challenge on Marmoush, and Haaland confidently found the bottom-right corner.
Estupinan levelled in the 21st minute with a delightful free-kick that went in off the far post, but Marmoush re-established City's advantage with an excellent strike from the edge of the box six minutes before half-time.
City survived a major scare when Joao Pedro rolled an effort narrowly wide just before the break, but Brighton levelled in the 49th minute when Jack Hinshelwood's shot on the turn deflected in off Khusanov for an own goal.
Both sides had chances at 2-2 as Yankuba Minteh somehow failed to turn Diego Gomez's cross in for Brighton, while Nico Gonzalez's downward header rattled a post at the other end.
It was Brighton who missed the clearest opportunity, with Carlos Baleba letting City off the hook when he blasted over from a great position late on.
Marmoush shows promise but Man City slip up
Guardiola responded to last week's 1-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest by making four changes to his line-up. Only one of those – Ortega replacing Ederson in goal – was enforced as Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva and Matheus Nunes dropped to the bench.
Marmoush, Ilkay Gundogan and Rico Lewis were recalled, and the former made a speedy impact to win City's penalty. Having linked up well with Haaland, the Egyptian left Webster bamboozled with a clever turn and was chopped down.
Haaland made no mistake, slotting home for his 84th goal in 94 Premier League appearances. With 16 assists to his name, the Norwegian is the first player to reach 100 goal involvements in fewer than 100 appearances in the competition.
Haaland benefited from having a foil in attack, with Marmoush almost playing as a second striker. But Marmoush is just as comfortable operating outside the area, as he showed when rifling a shot off the left-hand post and into the net to put City 2-1 up.
Marmoush's partnership with Haaland looks promising, and he also appears to have struck up a solid understanding with Gundogan, who assisted him here after also teeing the Egyptian for one of his three goals against Newcastle United last month.
But while there were positive signs in attack, City struggled at the back. Some poor set-piece defending led to Khusanov's own goal, and they have now conceded 40 top-flight goals this season, which is already their most in any Premier League campaign under Guardiola.
City have an extended break to work on plugging their leaky defence before a key FA Cup quarter-final against AFC Bournemouth, after which they face struggling Leicester City in their next league game on 2 April.
Seagulls stick to their task
Fabian Hurzeler's Brighton travelled to the Etihad Stadium in excellent spirits, chasing a seventh successive victory in all competitions and a fifth in a row in the Premier League.
It has been a real turnaround for the Seagulls, who went eight league games without a win either side of Christmas and were routed 7-0 by Forest as recently as last month.
The away side knew a victory over City would ensure they ended the weekend fifth in the table – a position that will likely be enough for Champions League qualification, given the strong performances of English clubs in Europe this season.
Brighton remain right in the mix to finish in one of those top places despite falling just short of victory. They could have been discouraged after City's second goal, which came from Georginio Rutter being dispossessed by Nico in a dangerous area, but they stuck to their task impressively.
The visitors got a huge slice of fortune for their second equaliser, but that was the least they deserved from a positive second-half display, and some more composed finishing would have earned them three points, with Hurzeler visibly frustrated when Baleba could not convert late on after being set up by Joao Pedro.
While Brighton were unable to earn a club-record fifth straight win in the top flight, they remain strong contenders for European qualification and have an FA Cup quarter-final against Forest to come after the international break, before a crunch league match with Aston Villa.
Club reports
Man City report | Brighton report
What the managers said
Pep Guardiola: "Unfortunately, we couldn't win. They had chances, but we had two clear chances with Savinho. We will take the point and go forward.
"This is football. We have to accept it. We have conceded a lot of goals this season and that's because of something missing."
Fabian Hurzeler: "We gave away goals in a very cheap way and we have to improve.
"The fact that we came back twice and we had big opportunities to go for the win is a very positive one. We showed our identity and that's how we want to play. Overall, I am happy with the performance, but not happy with the result."
Next PL fixtures
Key facts
Brighton remain winless in their 15 league visits to Man City (D3 L12), with today’s draw the first time they’ve avoided defeat since December 1982 (1-1 at Maine Road).
Estupinan’s equaliser for Brighton was the first direct free-kick goal Man City have conceded at the Etihad Stadium in the Premier League since September 2013 (Wayne Rooney for Manchester United).
Marmoush has been involved in 16 goals in his 12 home league appearances this season (10 goals, 6 assists), netting four in his last three for Man City.
Khusanov’s own goal was the first scored by a Man City player in a Premier League home match since August 2022 (John Stones v Crystal Palace).
