EPL: Man City stumble as Nottingham Forest soar in UCL chase

Manchester City failed to ease fears of missing out on the Champions League next season after twice blowing the lead to draw 2-2 against Brighton, while third-placed Nottingham Forest thrashed Ipswich 4-2 on Saturday.

Erling Haaland and Omar Marmoush put City in front, but high-flying Brighton extended their unbeaten run to seven games thanks to Pervis Estupinan’s free-kick and an Abdukodir Khusanov own goal.

City manager Pep Guardiola said on Friday that just reaching the Champions League next season would be a “big success” after a difficult season for a side used to lifting the league title.

The English champions’ early exit from Europe’s top competition to Real Madrid had at least ensured a full week’s preparation for Guardiola’s men to bounce back from last weekend’s dismal 1-0 defeat at Forest.

Marmoush was restored to the starting line-up and proved to be City’s brightest spark going forward.

The Egyptian won the penalty from which Haaland opened the scoring with his 29th goal of the season.

EPL fixtures: Man City in Brighton test as Arsenal host Chelsea

A top-five Premier League finish will almost certainly secure a Champions League place this season thanks to English clubs’ strong performances in European competition.

A point leaves City still in fifth, just one point ahead of Brighton in seventh.

Forest’s charge towards Europe’s top club competition for the first time since 1980 continued with a dominant display at Portman Road.

The visitors struck three times in six first-half minutes to close to within one point of second-placed Arsenal and six clear of City.

Ipswich’s uphill task to beat the drop suffered another blow as Wolves pulled nine points clear of the bottom three with a 2-1 victory at Southampton.

Everton extended their unbeaten run to nine games thanks to Jake O’Brien’s 90th-minute equaliser in a 1-1 draw against West Ham.

Tomas Soucek had opened the scoring at Goodison Park as both sides move onto 34 points, 17 clear of the relegation zone.

The Star