Match Report & Player Ratings: Manchester City 1-1 Brighton & Hove Albion (Premier League) | OneFootball

An injury-stricken Manchester City side struggled against Brighton and Hove Albion to settle for their third draw in a row in 2026 at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday night.

Fans were given a scare in the first minute as Gianluigi Donnarumma casually let the ball roll across his goal line in an Ederson-esque fashion. Just seconds later, the giant Italian made a top save after Pascal Gross ghosted into the box and had a free header from Diego Gomez’s cross.

City’s first real entry into the box came in the fifth minute as Matheus Nunes ghosted past multiple Brighton defenders and found himself with space in the area. Jan Paul van Hecke did well to block the right-back’s cross and avert any danger.

Donnarumma made his second save inside the first 10 minutes as Ferdi Kadioglu was played through on goal. Thankfully, the Turkish international fired his shot straight at the ‘keeper.

The visitors exposed City’s inexperienced central defensive pairing just before the half an hour mark. Max Alleyne stepped out of the defensive line, but missed his tackle, and Georginio Rutter slipped past Khusanov to run through on goal.

The Uzbek showed his blistering pace to make an excellent recovery run and tackle, blocking the attacker’s shot and extinguishing the danger.

Jeremy Doku went on another mazy run before Gomez seemingly fouled him in the box on the 37-minute mark. Referee Thomas Bramall did not initially give the penalty, but he was sent to the VAR monitor and overturned his decision, giving Erling Haaland the opportunity to give City the lead.

Although he has not been at his best in recent games, the Norwegian comfortably converted from the spot.

City almost scored their second goal of the game on the verge of halftime. Nathan Ake got to the byline and chipped a dangerous cross to Tijjani Reijnders. The in-form Dutchman’s strike on the half-volley was cleared off the line by a Brighton defender.

Pep Guardiola’s men thought they had the dream start to the second half. Yasin Ayari played the ball straight to Silva inside the Seagulls’ penalty area, but the Portuguese fired his effort into the post, failing to kill off the game.

Brighton levelled the scoring completely out of the blue. The ball fortuitously fell to Ayari via a deflection from Gonzalez. He played the ball out to Kaoru Mitoma, who cut inside and fired a low, driven shot into the far corner, well past a despairing Donnarumma in goal.

Fabian Hurzeler’s side almost took the lead six minutes later. Kadioglou was played in behind and crossed to de Cuyper. He pulled the ball back to Gomez, but substitute Rodri made a heroic block to clear the ball away for a corner.

It was chaos in the Cityzens’ penalty area, as Brighton had another clear-cut chance. Mitoma took an excellent first touch that took Nunes out of the game. The Japanese international squared for Gomez, who overran the ball and scuffed his shot, which eventually pin-balled out for a goal kick.

Due to this poor period, Guardiola introduced all of the remaining established senior players on the bench. This triple change was almost instantly effective. Rayan Cherki whipped a cross onto the head of Haaland, whose finessed header looked destined to nestle in the far corner of the net, but Kadioglu rose high to clear the ball off the line.

The 80th minute saw a near repeat of the incident in the 46th minute. Ayari played the ball to Rayan Cherki inside his own box. This time, the attacker squared to Haaland, who telegraphed his shot and allowed Bart Verbruggen to make a save. Seconds later, the frontman fired a powerful strike into the side-netting from a narrow angle.

Cherki was involved in another big chance just four minutes from the end of normal time. Doku cut the ball back to the young Frenchman, who blazed his strike high and wide of the bar when he had plenty of time and space.

The Cityzens pushed for a winner in the final minutes and had a number of shots blocked as they were ultimately unable to break through.

Starting XI

Gianluigi Donnarumma 6.5/10

Made a couple of saves early on, the stop from Gross’s header being fairly impressive. As always, he did not look overly convincing on the ball or from corners, but he keeps the ball out of the net better than anyone else in the world.

Matheus Nunes – 6.5/10

Combined well with Bernardo Silva down the right flank, getting in behind a number of times in the first half and posing a fairly consistent threat. He would have hoped to produce slightly more quality with his final ball.

Abdukodir Khusanov – 7.5/10

The young defender always seems to tread the fine line between erratic panic and controlled aggression, but he was very much on the side of controlled aggression against the Seagulls, using his pace well to cover for Alleyne. The minutes he will get in the coming months could mould him into a bona fide elite centre-back.

Max Alleyne – 7.5/10

Had a good chance from a corner which he failed to convert, and did not make any major errors and must now build on a very strong and assured opening performance for the club. He is another defender who will get a lot of minutes in the near future.

Nathan Ake – 6.5/10

Did not do much of note, which is both a good and bad thing. One would imagine that most of his football in the coming months will be in a more central position, but getting through so many minutes at full-back proves his fitness.

Nico Gonzalez – 6.5/10

Once again, mopped things up in front of the defence nicely. There was increased responsibility on him today, given the youthful nature of the centre-back pairing, but he put in another reasonable performance. However, the Spaniard did not cover himself in glory for the Brighton goal.

Phil Foden – 5.5/10

Looked nowhere near the levels he showed a month or so ago. Should have had more of an impact on the game, as he was playing in his preferred position on the right of the midfield three. Can have no complaints about being substituted.

Tijjani Reijnders – 6/10

Not at the level he had shown in the last few games. Did not make many late runs from midfield, which are the foundation of his effectiveness. Was potentially asked to play in a more reserved manner due to the unfamiliar defence playing behind him.

Bernardo Silva – 6/10

Looked reasonable again, but needs to find more end product when he is playing on the wing. Got gifted a golden chance by Ayari at the start of the second half that could have killed the game, but he failed to convert. One of a number of players who could have showed more endeavour to block Mitoma’s shot.

Erling Haaland – 6.5/10

The big striker looked jaded in the first half, but livened up in the second period. He will be pleased to break his mini-goal-drought with a solid finish from the penalty spot. The frontman needs a rest, but that seems unlikely to come until Omar Marmoush is back from the African Cup of Nations.

Jeremy Doku – 7/10

City’s most consistent attacking threat. Brighton tried to put Kadioglu, a natural full-back, on the right wing to double up on him, but it did not work. His one-on-one ability is excellent, and he has added end product to his game this season. Maybe should have posed more threat once Brighton scored the equaliser

Substitutes

Rodri – 6/10

Made a big block during a chaotic spell in the game. Controlled the ball well and looks like he is getting back to his very best.

Nico O’Reilly – 6/10

Looked decent off the bench. Got some much-needed rest today, and will hopefully be fresher in the coming weeks.

Rico Lewis – 6/10

He has hardly played this season, but looked solid once he came on. Another player who will be hoping for more minutes in the midst of the current injury crisis.

Rayan Cherki – 7/10

Certainly provided an impetus when he came on. Showed decent composure to square for Haaland when he won the ball in the Brighton box, but could not quite convert any half chances himself. Will be pushing to start over Foden next time out.