• Man City drew 2-2 with Brighton in the Premier League on Saturday
  • Goals from Erling Haaland and Omar Marmoush were not enough for victory
  • Cityzens missed the chance to move back into the top four

Manchester City stumbled in their push for Champions League qualification on Saturday afternoon as they drew 2-2 at home to Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier League.

The Cityzens found themselves ahead on two separate occasions courtesy of goals from Erling Haaland and Omar Marmoush, but their resilient visitors twice sourced equalisers through Pervis Estupinan and an own goal from the luckless Abdukodir Khusanov.

City would have moved back into the top four with victory at the Etihad Stadium but had to accept a point as they stay fifth heading into the international break.

How the game unfolded

Having won their last six matches in all competitions, Brighton played with an understandable confidence during the opening exchanges at the Etihad. They swiftly unnerved City's backline and Kaoru Mitoma even had the ball in the back of the home net after just seven minutes, but the forward's scrappy effort was ruled out for a foul on goalkeeper Stefan Ortega.

That early warning sign was all the reigning champions needed to burst into life themselves, opening the scoring just four minutes later. Marmoush was scythed down in the box by Adam Webster and Haaland converted the subsequent spot kick to become the fastest player to reach a century of goals and assists in Premier League history.

Brighton refused to allow City's opener to undermine their positive approach and deservedly equalised midway through the first half. Estupinan whipped an exquisite free kick off the inside of the post with Ortega rooted to the spot, the German stopper appearing to believe the strike was going wide of his goal frame.

Savinho spurned two glorious opportunities as City sought to retake the lead - the second epitomising the erratic nature of the Brazilian's finishing - but Marmoush provided the clinical edge his teammate was lacking as he thundered home a venomous strike from the edge of the area to give the hosts a slim advantage.

Fabian Hurzeler's words of encouragement during the half-time break worked wonders for the visitors, who produced a second equaliser of the encounter just three minutes after the restart. It was another difficult moment for winter recruit Khusanov as he played several Brighton players onside at a corner before proceeding to bundle Jack Hinshelwood's weak effort into his own net.

The Seagulls looked the likelier to find the fifth goal of the match and their electric wingers both missed chances to punish City's lethargic backline. Yankuba Minteh inexplicably failed to connect with Mitoma's low cross with the goal gaping and the Japan international's near-post strike was rebuffed shortly afterwards.

An end-to-end finale had home and away supporters on the edge of their seats and both sides could have snatched victory in the final 15 minutes. Nico Gonzalez's header struck the outside of the post and Carlos Baleba skied a fantastic opening as neither team were able to secure an important three points in their respective European bids.

Having been beaten by fellow top four competitors Nottingham Forest last weekend, City knew they needed to respond on Saturday afternoon. While they produced a much improved performance compared to the limp defeat in the Midlands, there is still cause for concern as they tripped up once again.

City lacked any attacking urgency or creativity at the City Ground last week but rediscovered some of their offensive swagger at the Etihad. Marmoush was lively and dovetailed nicely with Haaland, while the speedy wide players offered threat despite producing more unpolished final product.

It was at the other end of the pitch where City struggled most, often overrun by their visitors on the counter-attack. They lacked what Pep Guardiola wants most from his team: control. That proved costly in a breathless affair, with the reigning champions potentially finishing the weekend four points adrift of fourth.

Guardiola has never failed to qualify for Europe's premier competition during his coaching career, but it's a worryingly realistic possibility this season.