Gianluigi Donnarumma brutally trolled by Sunderland player after raging Man City goalkeeper 'ran length of pitch' to spark post-match bust-up as Pep Guardiola played peacemaker

Despite racking up an expected goals tally of 2.25, their highest in a Premier League game in which they failed to score since March 2022, City were unable to break down a Sunderland side who claimed a hard-fought point. The result saw Guardiola's team slip four points behind league leaders Arsenal, something the manager was not best pleased about.

He said after the contest: "It is a tough place to come. The amount of chances we missed in the six-yard box, not difficult ones... We didn't do what we talked about in the first half but in general it was a really good game. It was better second half, the guys did everything. They are a bit heads down, but we have to be heads up because in three days we have a difficult game against Chelsea. We created enough chances and we played well second half. The commitment and the desire in the first half was different. We created enough - the two chances from Savinho in the second half, Jeremy [Doku], Josko [Gvardiol], Phil [Foden] and Erling [Haaland]. We had a lot but, unfortunately, we could not do it."

City were, naturally, frustrated at failing to pick up all three points on New Year's Day and it was evident that their frustrations got the better of them when Italy international Donnarumma squared up to unused substitute O'Nien at full-time, having been irked by some timewasting on the touchline. The former Paris Saint-Germain man lost his cool, at a time when manager Guardiola tried to diffuse the situation, as Sunderland fans mocked the big Italian. 

And now, the Mackems hero has gone viral for his cheeky comments aimed at Donnarumma on Instagram. He wrote on Friday: "Nice of their big man to run the length of the pitch to wish me a happy new year. Top man @donnarumma."

Few fancied Sunderland to stay up this season after all three promoted sides have been relegated for two campaigns in a row. But Regis Le Bris has got the north east outfit flying high in the Premier League, and much of that has been down to their excellent home form. The seventh-placed Black Cats are unbeaten in their own backyard this term, winning five and drawing five of their fixtures. That has included draws with Arsenal, City, Aston Villa, and more, something Le Bris is proud of. 

He said: "It was a good game against a really strong opponent who are one of the best in Europe. It was important to defend properly. We showed we can defend high and when they came a bit higher with their quality we had to manage the ball in the final third. They created many chances but the character was good. Even when we were on the edge we had one foot, one head, something to protect the ball. It was important to escape their counter-press. They were excellent a few weeks ago at the Etihad and it was impossible to escape their counter-press. We did well with that. We are growing and learning from  different experiences. It's a question of experience as the standards in our team are high. They want to get better. If you stay at the same level, the league is going so fast that you'll be finished. They are still ambitious. They're [the home crowd] really important, especially in defensive moments. They push us, it's important for our game."

Second-placed City will hope to bounce back from this disappointing result when they host Chelsea at the Etihad on Sunday, whereas Sunderland travel to Tottenham on the same day. If results go their way, the Black Cats could climb to fifth in the table, while City can cut the gap to Arsenal to one point if they win and the Gunners lose.