Man City 2-2 Brighton: Match report & 3 talking points as Cityzens stumble in Champions League push | OneFootball

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.

Check out the player ratings from Man City 2-2 Brighton here.

City surrender more ground in Champions League race

City were far from their best on Saturday / Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/GettyImages

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.

More defensive woes for injury-stricken Cityzens

Khusanov's own goal proved costly / Neal Simpson/Allstar/GettyImages

City's underwhelming season has largely been attributed to Rodri's long-term injury but it's easy to forget just how often Guardiola has been without members of his first-choice back four this term. Three integral first-teamers were missing for Brighton's visit, with Nathan Ake, Manuel Akanji and John Stones all absent.

Enforced rotation across the backline has been one of the contributing factors to City's malaise, with frequent errors and an alarming lack of cohesion often their undoing throughout recent months.

Having opted for youth over experience when recruiting reinforcements during the winter period - Khusanov and Vitor Reis arrived with a combined age of 40 - it's a decision that is haunting City in the short-term, with Khusanov's own goal another blot on his copybook.

City must ride this wave and hope absentees return in the near future, but Guardiola may have to consider tweaking his approach to offer his stretched defence more security.

Haaland set another Premier League record on Saturday / Gareth Copley/GettyImages

Throughout what has been an overwhelmingly disappointing campaign for City, Haaland has often proven their saving grace. The Norwegian's supreme sharpshooting has been normalised off the back of two tremendous, goal-laden campaigns, but the output he continues to produce cannot be undervalued. Saturday offered us a timely reminder of his brilliance.

While Haaland's only goal contribution of the encounter was a simple spot kick, the strike saw him become the fastest player to reach a combined 100 goals and assists in the Premier League era. Reaching the milestone in just 94 matches - six fewer than next best Alan Shearer - the 24-year-old has smashed yet another record.

84 goals and 16 assists is a freakishly impressive return and his season tally of 33 goal contributions in 39 matches is still worth applauding despite City's struggles.