Mitoma punishes City’s slackness as title push stutters once more

Pep Guardiola believes team spirit will help Manchester City get through adifficult period but more than camaraderie alone will be required on this evidence.

- Will Unwin

City endured a third consecutive draw against Brighton to leave the leaders, Arsenal, who have agame in hand, five points ahead and currently without a title challenger. City were left with 14 fit senior outfield players for the match and those on the pitch looked fatigued. An Erling Haaland penalty gave a platform they were unable to build onas City let Brighton come back into the match and deservedly depart witha point thanks to Kaoru Mitoma.

After injuries to Raben Dias and Josko Gvardiol, Guardiola gave Max Alleyne a debut at centre-back, having recalled the 20-year-old froma loan spell at Watford. If the youngster was looking forreassurance from his highly-experienced goalkeeper, it was not forthcoming, as Gianluigi Donnarumma almost let a simple back pass roll past him into the net, only to recover at the last second.

With Brighton happy to sit deep when City were in possession, the hosts struggled to findrhythm. There was often a line of eight yellow shirts onthe edge of the box, forcing City to work hard toassess the few gaps. Set pieces looked a promisingroute with Alleyne miscuinga header at the front post and Bernardo Silva firing straight at Bart Verbruggen from corners.