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3 weeks ago
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Manchester City’s disappointing form continued on Saturday after they let a one-goal lead slip against Brighton and Hove Albion, eventually going on to lose 2-1 at the AMEX Stadium after second half goals from Joao Pedro and Matt O’Riley cancelled out Erling Haaland’s opener on 23 minutes.
It is another damaging result for Manchester City, who would find themselves five points behind Liverpool if Arne Slot’s side defeat Aston Villa at Anfield on Saturday night. Not only that, fellow title challengers Arsenal could lose to within two points if they were to defeat Chelsea at the Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
Matt O'Riley on his Premier League DEBUT! ?
What a turnaround from Brighton! ? pic.twitter.com/oJolKvtfOS
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) November 9, 2024
Brighton defeats means Manchester City have lost four in a row
The defeat on the south coast means that Manchester City have lost each of their last four matches across all competitions. The streak started with the Carabao Cup loss at Tottenham, before another 2-1 defeat in the Premier League against AFC Bournemouth. Pep Guardiola’s side were thumped 4-1 by a Viktor Gyokeres-inspired Sporting CP side in midweek, meaning that the collapse at Brighton makes it four defeats in a row.
For Guardiola, this is a piece of unwanted history. Since starting his senior managerial career at Barcelona in 2008, he had only ever lost four competitive matches in a row once (with Bayern Munich) – now, it’s twice.
Manchester City had initially coped well with the absence of Rodri Hernandez, having won six of the first seven matches that he missed after suffering a serious knee injury against Arsenal in September. However, it’s becoming clear that he is a huge miss for Guardiola, which is probably why a replacement is to be sought in January.
