Manchester City’s nightmare run continued as they suffered a shocking 2-1 defeat to Brighton. This defeat marked the first time in Pep Guardiola‘s managerial career that his team has suffered four consecutive defeats.
Leading 1-0 courtesy of Erling Haaland’s first-half strike, City looked set to scrape a win with just 12 minutes left on the clock. However, Brighton struck twice in the dying stages, with Joao Pedro equalizing before Matt O’Riley’s 83rd-minute goal secured a dramatic 2-1 comeback.
This loss marks a historic downturn in Guardiola’s decorated career, with City, Bayern Munich, and Barcelona. It’s also City’s first four-game losing streak since 2006 under Stuart Pearce.
The slump started with a League Cup exit to Tottenham, followed by a Premier League defeat to Bournemouth and a 4-1 Champions League drubbing by Sporting Lisbon midweek. The result leaves City in second, two points adrift of Liverpool, who could widen that gap to five points with a win over Aston Villa.
Guardiola’s squad has been hit hard by injuries, with key players Rodri, Ruben Dias, John Stones, Jeremy Doku, and Jack Grealish sidelined. Kevin De Bruyne, Nathan Ake, and Manuel Akanji were only fit enough for the bench.
Despite Guardiola’s assurances that City would recover, the mounting injuries and failure to capitalize on goal-scoring opportunities continue to stall their pursuit of a fifth consecutive Premier League title.
With the pressure on, Guardiola will need to find solutions quickly to reverse City’s fortunes before the title race slips further out of reach.
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