‘Scary Moments’ For Gianluigi Donnarumma As Man City Title Hopes Fade Further

Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma will be hoping to win the English Premier League title in his first season with Manchester City.

However, Manchester City’s recent poor run of form – for a title-challenging team anyway – has led to doubts over whether this is achievable.

The Citizens went into Wednesday night’s game against Brighton having drawn their previous two league games.

Meanwhile, table-topping Arsenal are in a fine run of form, so City had to win against the Seagulls to keep the pressure on the Gunners.

Gianluigi Donnarumma pulls off great save but not enough to prevent Manchester City draw

City, who hosted Brighton at the Etihad Stadium, took the lead through Erling Haaland in the 41st minute.

The Norway striker, who tormented Italy in the World Cup qualifiers, scored his 150th goal for City.

However, Brighton equalised through Kaoru Mitoma on the hour, which resulted in a 1-1 draw.

Haaland could have easily had more goals, but he ended up being quite wasteful on the night.

Donnarumma’s individual performance was decent enough, with sixes and sevens across the board.

Another big chance for Albion after some superb football but Ferdi’s denied by Donnarumma… 🚫 pic.twitter.com/xYzTfTdE32

— Brighton & Hove Albion (@OfficialBHAFC) January 7, 2026

For instance, Goal.com gave the Italian a 7 out of 10 in their post-match ratings piece.

‘Could not do much about Brighton’s equaliser,’ they wrote. ‘And made a stunning save very similar to his one against Chelsea at the weekend.’

Meanwhile, the local Manchester Evening News gave Donnarumma a rating of 6 out of 10.

‘A few scary moments but also some decent saves when he was left exposed by the defence,’ they said.

Worringly, the MEN added that ‘City have lost all momentum and are fighting to stay in the title race.’

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Pep Guardiola’s side was missing nine first-team players through injury and unavailability.

And with the January transfer window in full swing, there’s a chance they could raid Italian clubs for reinforcements.

FootItalia sources revealed that Man City like Jhon Lucumi and could attempt an approach for the Bologna ace.

However, Inter should be fine as Guardiola recently claimed he wouldn’t recall Manuel Akanji from his Nerazzurri loan.

“We’re going to be creative, we’re not going to call Akanji or (Vitor) Reis back from their loans in January,” he said before the Brighton game.

Earlier in January, Donnarumma confronted Luke O’Nien after City’s draw with Sunderland as tempers boiled over.

It’s proving a difficult start to 2026 for the Azzurri colossus, and he will hope that things pick up over the coming weeks and months.