Manchester City’s draw with Brighton made it more difficult for Manchester City to win the Premier League title this season. It means Arsenal are now five points ahead of them with a game in hand.

In Manchester City’s draw with Brighton, Manchester City completed Erling Haaland’s 150-goal milestone through Erling Haaland’s penalty kick in the first half, but Karu Mitoma equalized in the second half and grabbed a point for the visiting team.

What we learned from the recent Manchester City draw

Manchester City drew with Brighton despite Pep Guardiola’s side dominating the game. It was their third draw in a row, once again highlighting a problem that has been plaguing them.

Against Sunderland, City Citizens had 67% of the ball and had 14 shots on goal. However, only four hit their target. In the game against Chelsea, Manchester City had a ball possession rate of 58% and shot 14 times, of which only 3 were on target. Manchester City once again drew with Brighton, with a ball possession rate of 59%, but only 7 of 20 shots were on target.

This is a problem that has been highlighted in Manchester City’s recent draws. They have the best number 9 player in the world, Haaland, who has scored 26 goals this season. Headlines now highlight ‘Erling Haaland 150 goals’, a remarkable milestone achieved in his fourth season at Manchester City.

However, since most teams defend low, there is always a lot of legs in the opponent’s penalty area, which forces them to shoot from 20-25 yards away. This explains the large number of shots fired, most of which missed the target.

The City Citizens have scored goals in two main ways this season. Either Haaland asserts his presence in the box or Foden scores from the edge of the area. Their opponents know that if they can seal off the center of the penalty area, they can reduce City’s offensive efficiency.

They may have another way to break through the Citizen’s opposing defense. This was through their explosive winger Jeremy Doku cutting into the box from the left wing. Doku’s movement will allow City residents to stretch the opposition’s defense, creating more space in the midfield.

However, Doku hasn’t played in most of Cityzens’ recent games. Deployment of Rayan Cherki and Bernardo Silva on the flanks would allow City to better control the ball, but it would reduce the offensive burst they need to break down defenses and create space in the box to shoot.

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Manchester City is still some way away from catching up with Arsenal. They have to hope the Gunners start dropping points soon. Unless that happens, Mikel Arteta’s side remain favorites to win the Premier League title.

City’s other draw was against Brighton and it was another game from which City could learn from and continue to improve in the next game.

In this case, it remains to be seen whether Manchester City can narrow the gap with Arsenal in the next games.

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Credit: IMAGO/Media per Second

Record date: January 7, 2026