City, Villa further damage league title chances

MANCHESTER, England — Manchester City's Premier League title hopes took another blow with a 1-1 draw against Brighton on Wednesday.

Not even Erling Haaland's 150th goal for the club was enough to stop City from dropping points at home for the second time in as many games and recording a third-straight draw. Kaoru Mitoma's equalizer stopped Pep Guardiola's team from closing the gap with first-placed Arsenal to three points.

The City manager blamed missed chances for the setback.

"We were expecting goals but it's not about that, we have to score goals. We could not do it," he said.

Aston Villa also missed out on the chance to move within three points of Arsenal with a goalless draw at Crystal Palace.

Elsewhere in London, Chelsea's freshly-appointed coach Liam Rosenior was watching from the stands as his new team was beaten 2-1 by Fulham.

Newcastle scored in the 12th minute of added time to beat Leeds 4-3. According to the Premier League, it was the latest winner on record in the competition.

Antoine Semenyo also struck in added time as Bournemouth beat Tottenham 3-2 in what could be his last game before a widely anticipated move to City.

"That was the type of stuff you write in movies, and no man deserves it more than him," Marcus Tavernier said of his soon-to-be former teammate.

Semenyo illustrated just why City is prepared to pay 65 million pounds ($87.46 million) for his services with a curling shot past Spurs stopper Guglielmo Vicario sparking wild celebrations.

Another blown lead

For the second time in as many games, City blew a lead at home to ease the pressure on Arsenal at the top of the standings.

After the 1-1 draw against Chelsea on Sunday, Guardiola's team was held even again, this time by Brighton.

Haaland's 41st-minute penalty put City ahead at halftime. But, after Mitoma's equalizer on the hour, Haaland was guilty of wasting a golden chance to score the winner when he shot straight at Brighton keeper Bart Verbruggen late on.

"It's not just one or two players, it's all the players up front," Guardiola said.

City's run of three draws also included a 0-0 with Sunderland on New Year's Day.

The result left second-placed City five points behind Arsenal, having played a game more than the league leader, with the Gunners still to play Liverpool.

City has won the title six times in the last eight seasons, but hopes of reclaiming it after being dethroned by Liverpool last season are beginning to look slimmer by the week.

Villa is third and level on points with City after its draw at Palace — the second time in three games that Unai Emery's team has dropped points.

Agencies