Gianluigi Donnarumma clashes versus Sunderland defender after Man City draw

Manchester City were held to an unwanted 0-0 draw away from home in Gameweek 19, despite Guardiola selecting a strong starting XI in search of three points. Late substitutions including Rodri, Jérémy Doku and Tijjani Reijnders failed to change the outcome.

Tensions flared in stoppage time when substitute Sunderland defender Luke O’Nien delayed City by preventing a quick throw-in. After the final whistle, Donnarumma ran towards O’Nien and confronted him, sparking a brief argument between the two players.

Several players stepped in to calm the situation, including captain Bernardo Silva and Erling Haaland, while Guardiola himself also intervened to pull his goalkeeper away. In the press conference after the match, Guardiola said: "Nobody is hurt, nothing happened. A really good game, especially the second half. The first half was tight, we just missed to score a goal in the six yard box. 

"We had many there, good actions against a fantastic team but I’m so proud and delighted at the way we played in a difficult stadium against difficult opponents. We did everything to win but in the end we could not win it. We created a lot. I don’t know if a team was able to come here and created what we created. They had an offside and Erling had one or two. 

"They had some transitions because our shape was not correct, the second half Rodri helped us and when you are five, six, seven times in the six yard box and cannot do it, that was the only thing missing. But we played miles better than Nottingham Forest and today we could not win. Now it’s recovery because we have two days to the Chelsea game and we go for it.”

The draw did little to help Manchester City’s title ambitions. Guardiola’s side remain four points behind league leaders Arsenal, who closed out 2025 with a 4-1 victory over Aston Villa. City will need to respond quickly when they face Chelsea on 5 January, especially amid ongoing uncertainty following Chelsea’s recent decision to part ways with head coach Enzo Maresca.