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.
How the match unfolded
City started shakily as Gianluigi Donnarumma was forced into a reflex save by Pascal Gross, while Ferdi Kadioglu also shot straight at the Italian after beating the hosts' offside trap.
But City went ahead in the 41st minute, with Haaland keeping his cool from 12 yards after Gomez dangled out a leg and tripped Doku on the left side of the box.
Watch: Haaland's penalty v Brighton
🎯 @ErlingHaaland's 150th City goal ✨ pic.twitter.com/AKn5AovMqd
— Manchester City (@ManCity) January 8, 2026
Gomez went some way towards redeeming himself on the stroke of half-time, though, as he cleared Tijjani Reijnders' goal-bound effort off the line.
Bernardo Silva struck the post 34 seconds into the second half after a giveaway from Yasin Ayari, but the Swede provided a far better pass when he assisted Mitoma for Brighton's equaliser.
Gomez should then have put Brighton in front 10 minutes later, but he completely miskicked from a few yards out of an open goal after being fed by Mitoma, who prodded the rebound against the upright.
City laid siege to Brighton's goal in the closing stages but could not find a winner, with Haaland firing straight at Bart Verbruggen from close range and Cherki powering wide of the right post.
City's January blues continue
It has been a difficult start to the year for City, who played out back-to-back draws against Sunderland and Chelsea, also losing Josko Gvardiol and Ruben Dias to injury in that latter match.
With both centre-backs set for substantial periods on the sidelines and John Stones yet to return to fitness, Guardiola is battling a full-blown defensive injury crisis.
But he insisted on Tuesday that City would not look to resolve all their issues using the transfer market, and he threw 20-year-old Max Alleyne in at the deep end just one day after recalling him from a loan spell in the Championship with Watford.
And while City's debutant defender held his own, those around him struggled, with Nathan Ake and Nico Gonzalez bypassed all too easily in the build-up to Mitoma's goal.
City were also found wanting in the final third when it mattered – Silva might regret not centring the ball to the unmarked Haaland when he struck the outside of the post, while Cherki put far too much power on his late shot after coming off the bench.
City face Exeter City in the FA Cup and Newcastle United in the EFL Cup before returning to Premier League action on 17 January, against Manchester United. With the games coming thick and fast, they cannot afford for this blip to continue.
Seagulls show fighting spirit
After enduring their second winless December in as many seasons under Fabian Hurzeler, Brighton got back on track with a 2-0 success over Burnley on Saturday.
That victory lifted the Seagulls into the top half of the table and brought the European places within their reach, and they started this game with plenty of confidence.
Brighton looked to turn City's makeshift backline at every opportunity in the early stages, with Georginio Rutter, Mitoma and Kadioglu interchanging effectively.
But the visitors could not make the most of their chances when they came, with Kadioglu failing to get enough venom behind his one-on-one effort and Rutter drawing a fearless block from Abdukodir Khusanov.
However, Hurzeler's team stepped up the intensity after falling behind, hitting back following a fluid counter-attack, then passing up a huge chance to go 2-1 up when Gomez miscued from just yards out.
As they dug in for a point late on, Brighton were also able to hand James Milner a landmark appearance from the bench, as he became only the fifth outfielder to make a Premier League appearance aged 40 or over.
A return of five points from three matches has steadied the ship after Brighton's festive struggles, and they will now target an FA Cup upset of Man Utd on Sunday, with their next Premier League assignment coming at home to AFC Bournemouth a week on Monday.
Club reports
Man City report | Brighton report
What the managers said
Pep Guardiola: "We have three games we didn't win. It's more difficult [to win the league now]. We will continue. The way we played I'm so, so pleased. We miss a lot [of chances]. Scoring goals - you have to do it, but we didn't do it. We didn't score. That's all. Sometimes we score, sometimes not. We have to continue to try to do it."
Fabian Hurzeler: "We played a strong first half. In the second half they were better, but we came back to make it 1-1. In the end you have to be happy. We started the game strong and had chances. You need to score goals to win a game. The main thing for us is we had chances."
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Key facts
Haaland’s opener for Man 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.
Man 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 (five) – it’s the second season in a row that they’ve dropped five points from winning positions against the Seagulls.
Mitoma’s equaliser was just the second scored by a Japanese player against Man City in the Premier League, after Shinji Okazaki for Leicester City in May 2017, also at the Etihad.
City took a total of 22 shots against Brighton, the most they’ve had in a Premier League game at the Etihad without scoring more than one goal since Boxing Day in 2024 (24 shots v Everton).