Man City ‘ABJECT’ as Guardiola breaks record in Brighton loss

Manchester City have suffered four defeats in succession under Pep Guardiola for the first time as they were defeated 2-1 at Brighton, with their performance in the second half of that encounter described as “abject”.

Erling Haaland struck before the break to put the defending Premier League champions in command, yet in the second half they were a shadow of their normal selves as Joao Pedro and Matt O’Riley came off the bench to turn things around.

It was a frustrated City team that cut across the park come full-time, with Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp apparently amazed at just how poor they were.

“That’s one of the worst halves of football I’ve seen from a Pep Guardiola side,” he said. “They were abject. They didn’t win individual battles, they didn’t pass the ball forward at times. They looked excellent in the first half – they should have been 3-0 up. Once Brighton made the subs, there was only one team going to win it.”

No leaders at City

Redknapp felt there was a lack of composure in the team, with none of Guardiola’s players willing to dominate the game and set the tempo of the team in difficult moments.

“You’re looking for characters: who’s going to dig in? Who’s going to make that challenge? Who’s going to get on the ball when you need it most? Who’s going to make the team calm? There was no one to do it,” he said.

“The two centre-backs, they’re not a regular partnership and the goals summed it up. They were really poor goals from Manchester City’s point of view.

“But all credit to Brighton, they were excellent in the second half.”

Although City have faced an injury crisis in recent times, they were still able to boast a star-studded team at Brighton, with young centre-back Jahmai Simpson-Pusey the exception.