Guardiola Suffers Four Successive Defeats For First Time As Brighton Rock Man City

With just 12 minutes left, Guardiola’s troubled side were clinging onto the lead given to them by Erling Haaland in the first half.

But they collapsed in the closing stages as Joao Pedro equalised before Matt O’Riley bagged Brighton’s winner seven minutes from full-time.

For the first time in his glittering career as a manager with City, Bayern Munich, and Barcelona, Guardiola has been beaten four times in a row.

Manchester City’s Spanish manager Pep Guardiola gestures on the touchline during the English Premier League football match between Brighton and Hove Albion and Manchester City at the American Express Community Stadium in Brighton, southern England on November 9, 2024. (Photo by Glyn KIRK / AFP)

It was also the first time City had lost four successive games since a run between April and August 2006 under Stuart Pearce.

After exiting the League Cup to Tottenham and suffering a first league loss since December at Bournemouth, City were thrashed 4-1 by Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League in midweek.

The slump continued as they failed to kill off Brighton before the second-half implosion that threatens to derail their bid for a fifth successive Premier League title.

Second-placed City are two points behind leaders Liverpool, who can extend that gap to five points if they beat Aston Villa at Anfield later on Saturday.

City have been beset by injury problems, most notably the loss of Ballon d’Or winner Rodri for the rest of the season.

Kevin De Bruyne, Nathan Ake, and Manuel Akanji were only fit enough for the bench, while Ruben Dias, John Stones, Jeremy Doku, and Jack Grealish were absent from the squad.

Guardiola had insisted he would solve City’s problems but he has so far been unable to come up with the answer to their mounting crisis.

City had paid for failing to turn their dominance into more than a one-goal lead against Sporting and profligacy was a problem again on the south coast of England.