Man City dealt another blow in title race with third straight draw

<1>Manchester City's Premier League title hopes took a further blow as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Brighton & Hove Albion at the Etihad Stadium.

Pep Guardiola's side went in front through an Erling Haaland penalty late in the first half, which was awarded following a VAR review after Diego Gomez felled Jeremy Doku. It was the Norwegian's 150th goal for the club in just 173 appearances.

But Brighton were rewarded for a positive display on the hour mark, with Kaoru Mitoma finding the bottom-right corner with a pinpoint finish from the edge of the area.

Haaland and Rayan Cherki both missed excellent chances to win it for Man City late on, as they toiled to a third successive draw to open 2026.

They could now fall eight points behind Arsenal when the Gunners host Liverpool on Thursday, while Brighton sit five points adrift of the top four.