Manchester City upset by Brighton, suffer fourth straight loss

Brighton came back to defeat Manchester City 2-1 at Falmer Stadium in Bright and Hove, England, on Saturday, giving the defending Premier League champions their first four-game losing streak in all competitions since August 2006.

Erling Haaland scored in the 23rd minute and had a couple of narrow misses in a first half where City had five shots on target. However, Brighton were much-improved in the second half against a sluggish City and substitutes Joao Pedro and Premier League debutant Matt O'Riley scored to secure the victory.

City previously lost to Tottenham Hotspur in the League Cup, Bournemouth in the league, and then suffered a 4-1 thrashing by Sporting CP in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday that had Bernardo Silva saying City are in a "dark place." It was the first time for Pep Guardiola, manager of City, to watch his club lose four consecutive games. They are now trailing behind the leaders Liverpool by five points after "The Reds" beat Aston Villa 2-0 at Anfield.

City have been rocked by injuries with Nathan Ake, John Stones, Jack Grealish and Ruben Dias all sidelined against Brighton, alongside longer-term absentees Rodri and Oscar Bobb. 

"Of course, it's November, we are not far away (from rival teams) in this position before the international break," Guardiola said. "(The key to) winning games is the people come back fit, the people came back and can play, can train and then improve our results."

"(We need to) clear our heads, go into the international break, and for players to come back fit. The success that they had the last seasons were because we had fewer injuries. I would like the players to be consistent and be able to play at the level we played in the first half," he added.