Pep Guardiola saw his men slump to a third draw in a row. Re-live an entertaining game with the best facts and Opta data in our Man City vs Brighton stats page.
Manchester City dropped points for the third successive Premier League game as they drew 1-1 with Brighton at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday, providing leaders Arsenal with another boost.
City certainly had plenty of chances but lacked the required ruthlessness to finish them off, and they were hit with a second-half sucker-punch when Brighton hadn’t offered much for a while.
Erling Haaland’s 150th City goal put them in charge late in the first half and seemed to have them on course for a victory that would have put them back to within three points of Arsenal ahead of the Gunners’ clash with Liverpool on Thursday.
But Kaoru Mitoma had other plans, scoring almost out of nothing to leave City looking desperate towards the end.
Brighton just about held on, meaning Arsenal could extend their lead at the summit to eight points if they beat Arne Slot’s Liverpool.
Man City vs Brighton xG map
City nearly found themselves trailing early on, with Pascal Groß going close to a first Brighton goal since his return from Borussia Dortmund, but he was denied by Gianluigi Donnarumma in the second minute.
Donnarumma had to be alert again a few minutes later to thwart Ferdi Kadioglu after he’d been released on goal.
Brighton were made to pay for their wastefulness shortly before half-time.
Jérémy Doku drew a clumsy foul in the box from Diego Gómez and Haaland coolly slotted in the resulting penalty, taking his tally for the season to 20.
It was also Haaland’s 150th for the club in 173 appearances, 28 fewer than any other Premier League has reached 150 goals in all competitions since 1992-93 (Alan Shearer – 201).
Brighton’s attacking threat had seemingly been effectively nullified by City, with the visitors reaching half an hour without a shot in the 59th minute.
But then, on the hour, Mitoma brilliantly made space for himself just outside the City box and blasted into the bottom-right corner to equalise.
Mitoma almost inspired a second goal in the 70th minute, getting in behind Matheus Nunes and squaring into the danger zone for Gómez, but he couldn’t sort his feet out quick enough to knock into an empty net, and Mitoma then prodded against the post from point-blank range.
Brighton had two immensely close calls of their own at the other end soon after, though. First, Kadioglu cleared a Haaland header off the line, then the Norwegian failed to find the net when Doku seized upon a wayward pass in the Seagulls’ own penalty area.
Rayan Cherki then went on to spurn a couple of decent opportunities as City ultimately fell short again, making it three draws on the trot after also failing to beat Sunderland and Chelsea.
Our Opta match centre delivers you all the Man City vs Brighton stats from their Premier League meeting at the Etihad Stadium.
The match centre below includes team and player stats, expected goals data, passing networks, an Opta chalkboard and more. It gives you everything you need to do your own match analysis.
Underneath the match centre you can find the official Opta stats on the game as well.
Man City vs Brighton Stats: Post-Match Facts
Brighton’s James Milner became the fifth outfielder to play in the Premier League while aged 40+, after Gordon Strachan (6 apps in 40s), Teddy Sheringham (24), Kevin Phillips (4), and Ryan Giggs (6).
Manchester City took a total of 22 shots against Brighton and Hove Albion, the most they’ve had in a Premier League game at the Etihad Stadium without scoring multiple goals since Boxing Day in 2024 (24 v Everton).
Manchester City have now dropped nine points from winning positions in the Premier League this season, with over half of those dropped points coming against Brighton and Hove Albion (5) – it’s the second season in a row that they’ve dropped five points from winning positions against the Seagulls.
Erling Haaland’s opener for Manchester City was the 35,000th Premier League goal, scored four years and 131 days after the 30,000th by Burnley’s Chris Wood against Leeds United in August 2021.
Enjoy this? Subscribe to our football newsletter to receive exclusive weekly content. You should also follow our social accounts over onX, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook.