Man City 1-1 Brighton: Draw ‘punch in ribs’ for Guardiola’s side

City were without Josko Gvardiol, Ruben Dias and John Stones in their backline, with none of the trio expected to return to action until at least next month.

This forced Guardiola to recall academy product Max Alleyne from his loan spell at Watford. The 20-year-old footballer made his first team debut on a cold evening in the cauldron upstairs.

Alleyne has performed admirably on the big stage and, just as Nico O’Reilly was brought into the squad due to last season’s injury crisis, it is not his fault that he is thrown into this situation.

In the end, Erling Haaland’s 150th goal for the club was of little consequence as the team looked to drop six points in a week, giving Arsenal a huge boost.

With Aston Villa also drawing, Mikel Arteta’s men have a golden opportunity to go eight points clear; It was a scenario they could only have imagined last week.

“If you don’t win a match, we can’t think about these things,” Guardiola said about the title race. “We had an incredible result at Nottingham Forest [in City’s final game of 2025] After playing three matches, we played really well.

“They’ve got the momentum, Brighton are moving really well, but overall we did really well in the first 5-10 minutes and maybe a little less so in the first half, we had some incredible chances in the last 15-20 minutes.

“Expected goals do nothing for me. How to play to score goals and we couldn’t do that today.”

Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville told Sky Sports: “It feels like a big week. Manchester City drawing at home against Brighton feels like another punch in the ribs.”

“Arsenal will go to sleep tonight feeling pretty confident about where they are now, ahead of the big game against Liverpool tomorrow night.”

Guardiola also appeared to be showing the stress of dropping further points in the title race and clashed with Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler on the touchline.

While the German player said “emotions are part of the game of football”, City’s boss said there was “absolutely” no problem between the two.

City winger Jeremy Doku added: “I don’t think a draw at home is ever a good point. “We’re not that happy and would have preferred three points.

“We’re not really looking at the table. We’re trying to be ourselves and score more goals.”