Man City player ratings v Brighton: 3/10 ‘struggles’ as two more earn 4/10 in 2-1 loss - gallery

Manchester City’s woeful run of form continued on Saturday as Pep Guardiola’s side fell to a disappointing 2-1 defeat against Brighton & Hove Albion.

It sets a new and unwanted record for the Catalan, who for the first time in his distinguished career has lost four consecutive games. That came after what had been an encouraging start for City. Like in Portugal on Tuesday, the Blues dominated the opening 35 minutes but allowed the opposition back into the game and threw away a one-goal lead.

After a difficult 10 days, City were in need of a strong performance before the two-week international break. And in the early stages it looked like that’s exactly what was on the cards.

The champions played with the sort of swagger City fans have grown used to in recent years, moving the ball quickly, creating a plethora of scoring chances and dominating possession.

Savinho, Mateo Kovacic and Ilkay Gundogan all tested Bart Verbruggen with chances inside the first half an hour. Unsurprisingly, Erling Haaland was also involved in the action and produced four first-half shots. 

The decisive one came in the 26th minute as the City no.9 latched onto Kovacic’s perfectly placed through ball and shot at goal. Again Verbruggen saved, but Haaland reacted quickest to get a long leg to the ball ahead of Jan Paul van Hecke to tap in with his right foot and score his 75th Premier League goal.

By the 35th minute City had amassed seventy percent possession and an awe-struck Brighton hadn’t managed a single effort. But things began to change when the Seagulls came close as Danny Welbeck fired at goal, only to see Josko Gvardiol’s sliding lunge keep the shot out.

It took the hosts until the second period to produce their first shot on target - and Jack Hinshelwood should really have netted with his 52nd minute effort inside the box. Instead, he placed his header too close to Ederson, who managed to palm the ball away.

It was a sign of things to come as City’s dominance evaporated. Suddenly it was the Seagulls in control. Georginio Rutter headed over in the 65th minute before Joao Pedro shot wide. It was the introduction of the latter - returning from injury - that changed the game on the south coast.

Pedro managed to capitalise on some disjointed City defending in the 78th minute and blasted the ball beyond Ederson following a messy goalmouth scramble. City haven't dealt well with setbacks in recent weeks and that issue reared its head again at the Amex.

Five minutes after getting back on level terms, Brighton grabbed the winner via Matt O’Riley. City are used to Norwegians netting the winner, but this time it was unwanted. The debutant, also coming into the team after an injury, ran onto Pedro’s through ball and placed his shot into the back of the net.

Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden and Josko Gvardiol produced decent efforts late on, but none tested the Brighton keeper as the Fabian Hurzeler held on to record a famous win against the man 22 years his senior in the opposite dugout. Here’s how we rated the City players...