“One of the worst halves of football” – Brighton’s super subs condemn Man City worst ever run under Guardiola | OneFootball

Manchester City‘s worst run under Pep Guardiola was confirmed as they were beaten 2-1 by Brighton on Saturday night.

The Citizens went into the game with a point to prove. They had lost their past three games across all competitions, equalling their worst such run in Guardiola’s tenure.

It started with an EFL Cup exit to Tottenham Hotspur, before Man City were beaten 2-1 by Bournemouth in the Premier League last weekend. In midweek, Man City were hammered 4-1 by Sporting CP in the Champions League. They hadn’t lost a single game across all competitions before this run.

History was actually on the visitor’s side as they bid to end this run. Man City had won 12 of their 14 Premier League games against Brighton. The two games they had failed to win came after they had already wrapped up the Premier League title in the respective seasons.

Today Man City certainly looked like a team determined to prove their doubters wrong.  In the first half, they had nine shots, hitting the target five times and posting an xG of 1.91. Midway through the first half this pressure told, Erling Haaland putting Man City ahead with his 75th Premier League goal.

The Norwegian had his own point to prove, having failed to score from 10 shots against Bournemouth and Sporting CP, also missing a penalty against the latter.

Haaland’s 75th Premier League goal came in his 77th game, the fastest player to reach that particular milestone. And for some time, Man City looked like they would hold onto, or even build on, their lead. Haaland alone (five) had had more touches in the opposition box than Brighton (four) in the first half.

But at half-time, Fabian Hurzeler made a tactical change, also bringing on Carlos Baleba for Yasin Ayari. Baleba added structure to Brighton’s midfield, which helped them turn the game on its head.

In the first half, Brighton took just three shots and failed to hit the target. After the break, Brighton had seven and hit the target four times, crucially scoring twice. Their xG from the second half almost matched Man City’s from the first, at 1.86. Man City, by comparison had an xG of 0.25 in the second half from six shots, only one of which hit the target.

The next game-changing sub from Hurzeler came in the form of Joao Pedro, brought on for Simon Adingra. Twelve minutes after coming on, Pedro brought Brighton level, tapping home after a bit of a scramble in the box.

It was the Brazilian’s first goal against Man City in his fifth meeting and he wasn’t done there. Five minutes later, Pedro set up another sub — debutant Matt O’Riley — for the winner. Pedro is the third played to score and assist as a sub in the Premier League this season. Since the start of last season, only three players have been directly involved in more Premier League goals as a substitute than Pedro’s seven.

Brighton may have sensed they had the comeback in them. This was the first time in 76 games that Man City had lost a Premier League game having led at half-time. The team to come from behind preceding that run? Brighton, of course, in a 3-2 win in May 2021.

Critis of Man City were scathing once the result was confirmed.

“That’s one of the worst halves of football I’ve seen from a Pep Guardiola side,” Jamie Redknapp said of the second half on Sky Sports.

“They were abject, they didn’t defend, they didn’t win individual battles, they didn’t pass the ball forward at times. They looked excellent in the first half.

“But in the second half, when Hurzeler made the subs, only one team was going to win it. And once that game started running away from you, and then you’re looking at 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 this team calm?

“There was no one to do it. The two centre-backs, it was very difficult for (Josko) Gvardiol and (Jahmai) Simpson-Pusey, they’re not a regular partnership and you could see it. They looked like a bunch of strangers, and the goals summed it up.”

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