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Jan 01, 2026 17:05-05:00

Man City player ratings vs Sunderland: Erling Haaland loses his shooting boots in costly draw but super Gianluigi Donnarumma saves help avoid defeat

Manchester City lost crucial ground to Arsenal in the Premier League title race as they could only manage a 0-0 draw away to Sunderland. Pep Guardiola's side had a poor first half and Erling Haaland had a bad day at the office, only having one proper chance which he sent straight at Sunderland's superb goalkeeper Robin Roefs. Gianluigi Donnarumma was even more impressive down the other end.

The Italian made three crucial saves to prevent a frustrating night turning even worse, meaning City trail the Gunners by four points at the top rather than five had they lost. The result interrupted a run of eight wins in all competitions for Guardiola's men but it was always going to be a tall order to win at Sunderland, who are the only team alongside Arsenal to remain unbeaten at home this season.

City have struggled in the north east of England this season, with their last Premier League defeat coming at nearby Newcastle in late November. Since then City have come into their own to give Arsenal a real fright but nothing really went their way here.

Nathan Ake suffered an injury scare with the game a couple of minutes old but he shrugged it off. City then thought they had taken the lead when Bernardo Silva scored but he was fractionally offside. Nico Gonzalez suffered an injury which forced Guardiola to turn to Rodri at half-time, probably earlier than he would have liked in the Spaniard's first proper outing for almost three months. There was another injury setback for the visitors when Savinho was forced off.

His replacement Jeremy Doku managed to stretch the hosts and the Belgian looked the most likely to find a breakthrough. Top scorer, Haaland, however, had a night to forget and blanked for the second successive game against Sunderland, meaning the Black Cats are the only Premier League team who he has faced and not managed to score against.

GOAL rates Man City's players from the Stadium of Light...

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Goalkeeper & Defence
Gianluigi Donnarumma (8/10):
Kept City in the game with three impressive saves. Made himself big to block Brian Brobbey's angles then denied Simon Adingra and Eliezer Mayenda in the space of two minutes. Then in stoppage time he raced out of his box to beat Wilson Isidor to the loose ball.
Matheus Nunes (5/10):
Couldn't get forward enough and his passing was sloppy, interrupting promising attacking moves at best and at worst nearly getting City into trouble.
Ruben Dias (6/10):
Was put to the test by Brobbey but got City out of trouble on a couple of occasions with smart interceptions.
Nathan Ake (7/10):
Shrugged off a painful looking blow to the knee and put in an impressive performance, frequently interrupting Sunderland's play with blocks and tackles.
Nico O'Reilly (5/10):
Struggled to anticipate Sunderland's breakaways or do much down the other end and was understandably taken off by Guardiola in the 57th minute.

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Midfield
Bernardo Silva (5/10):
Denied an early goal by the offside flag and it seemed to affect him as he failed to make much of a difference in attack or help City get a grip on the midfield. Taken off for Reijnders late on.
Nico Gonzalez (5/10):
Struggled to deal with the pace of the game which had a lot to do with picking up a knock midway through the first half. Fought on until the break when he was taken off for Rodri.
Phil Foden (6/10):
Didn't get into the final third enough in the first half. Had more joy after the break thanks to Rodri coming on and was denied the breakthrough goal by a brave block from Omar Alderete.
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Attack
Savinho (6/10):
Just wasn't his day. Had two promising bursts forward within two minutes at the start of the second half but skied one effort and sent the other at Roefs. Moments later he was forced off injured.
Erling Haaland (5/10):
Saw little of the ball and fluffed his lines in the big moments. Fired at Roefs' feet from close range and played a hospital pass to Cherki which spoiled a promising break.
Rayan Cherki (6/10):
Had a quiet first half but looked more dangerous as the game impressed even though he couldn't make the difference.

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Subs & Manager
Rodri (6/10):
Looked powerful and influential on his return to action after a long spell out.
Jeremy Doku (7/10):
Looked most likely to craft the elusive goal, twisting and turning his way through Sunderland.
Josko Gvardiol (6/10):
A real handful for Sunderland as he effectively played as a centre-forward and fashioned four chances. Should have made Roefs work harder with his header but the Dutchman made a fine save to stop him later on.
Tijjani Reijnders (N/A):
Should have done better with his chance inside the area in injury time and Haaland looked livid with him.
Pep Guardiola (6/10):
Did his best to try and get the win with proactive substitutions and had bad luck with the two injuries. Although it's a setback in the title race there's no shame in not winning at Sunderland.

Goalkeeper & Defence

Midfield

Attack

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Subs & Manager