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.
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