Manchester City’s manager Pep Guardiola suffers a historic fourth consecutive defeat as Brighton stuns the reigning champions. This unprecedented losing streak highlights key challenges as City contends with the season’s pressures.
For the first time in his managerial career, Pep Guardiola faced four consecutive defeats as Manchester City’s struggles worsened with a late collapse resulting in a 2-1 loss to Brighton on Saturday.
With only 12 minutes remaining, Guardiola’s struggling team was desperately holding onto the lead established by Erling Haaland in the first half.
However, they fell apart in the final moments when Joao Pedro scored an equalizer and Matt O’Riley secured Brighton’s victory with a goal seven minutes before full-time.
For the first time in his illustrious managerial career with Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and City, Guardiola has experienced four consecutive defeats.
It was the first occasion since Stuart Pearce’s tenure from April to August 2006 that City had suffered four consecutive defeats.
After being knocked out of the League Cup by Tottenham and experiencing their first league defeat since December at Bournemouth, City were then thrashed 4-1 by Sporting Lisbon in the midweek Champions League match.
The decline persisted as they couldn’t put away Brighton before the second-half collapse, which jeopardizes their quest for a fifth consecutive Premier League title.
Manchester City, currently in second place, trail leaders Liverpool by two points. However, if Liverpool secures a victory against Aston Villa at Anfield later on Saturday, they can widen their lead to five points.
City have been plagued by injury issues, with the most significant being Ballon d’Or winner Rodri’s season-ending absence.
Kevin De Bruyne, Nathan Ake, and Manuel Akanji were only fit enough to be on the bench. Meanwhile, Ruben Dias, John Stones, Jeremy Doku, and Jack Grealish were not included in the squad at all.
Guardiola had promised to address City’s issues, but so far he has been unable to find a solution for their escalating crisis.
City had suffered for not capitalizing on their dominance to secure more than a one-goal lead against Sporting, and their wastefulness was once again an issue on the south coast of England.
Savinho had a prime opportunity to put City in the lead after receiving a pass from Mateo Kovacic, which propelled him into Albion’s penalty area. However, his lackluster finish enabled Bart Verbruggen to make an easy save.
Kovacic was the driving force behind City’s lead in the 23rd minute, contributing to a goal that combined creativity and hard work.
The Croatian midfielder’s precise pass sliced through the Brighton defense, but Haaland still faced a challenge as his first shot was blocked by Verbruggen. This left him in a sprint against Jan Paul van Hecke to tap the ball into the net before it could be cleared away.
Haaland’s 15th goal across all competitions this season marked just his second time scoring in the last six league matches.
Haaland nearly scored his 76th league goal for City moments after netting his 75th since joining in 2022; however, Verbruggen blocked his low shot at the near post.
Kovacic’s powerful long-range volley prompted yet another impressive save from the increasingly stretched Verbruggen.
However, just before halftime, City disastrously lost their intensity, giving Fabian Hurzeler’s side a chance to gain momentum.
Jack Hinshelwood missed a prime chance to bring Brighton level early in the second half when his close-range header from Pervis Estupinan’s cross was deflected away by Ederson.
Ederson quickly rushed forward to block Kaoru Mitoma’s shot, and moments later Pedro missed a golden opportunity by shooting wide.
Pedro redeemed himself for the earlier miss when he capitalized on poor City defending to equalize with 12 minutes remaining.
Mitoma had ample space to deliver a pass to Welbeck in the six-yard box.
Rico Lewis’s block-tackle prevented Welbeck from shooting, but neither Josko Gvardiol nor Matheus Nunes managed to clear the threat, enabling Pedro to capitalize with a close-range shot.
Guardiola sank into his seat, but things took a turn for the worse for the City manager in the 83rd minute.
Pedro threaded his pass through City’s vulnerable defense, allowing O’Riley to perfectly time his run and calmly slot a finish past Ederson from 10 yards out, plunging the champions into disarray.
