Man City slip to back-to-back league defeats as Brighton climb to third

Manchester City suffered their first back-to-back Premier League defeats under Enzo Maresca after going down 1-0 to Brighton at the Etihad Stadium, according to Sky Sports Football.

Yasin Ayari settled the contest in the 11th minute, capping a week in which Fabian Hürzeler's side have now led City three times in four days, Yahoo Sports reported.

The decisive sequence began when City conceded what Guardian Football described as a free-kick that appeared wrongly awarded for a foul by Elliot Anderson on Ayari. From the resulting delivery, Matheus Nunes failed to deal with a drilled low cross into the box, and Ayari converted to give Brighton the lead, Yahoo Sports said.

City had already been beaten by Brighton once this week, losing on penalties in the Carabao Cup fourth round on Wednesday, with backup goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli credited by Yahoo Sports as the key figure in that shootout win.

The hosts struggled to create in the first half at the Etihad. Jeremy Doku cut a frustrated figure in the final third, often overthinking his movement in behind, while Erling Haaland found few clear sights of goal, with Lewis Dunk blocking what chances did arrive, per Yahoo Sports.

Brighton nearly doubled their lead inside two minutes of the restart when Maxim De Cuyper spurned what Yahoo Sports called a glorious opportunity on the counter, a let-off City failed to heed immediately.

City's best period followed, with Iliman Ndiaye's fierce effort turned behind off the post by Bart Verbruggen in the 52nd minute. Enzo Maresca introduced Rayan Cherki for Ayyoub Bouaddi, and the Frenchman quickly found Enzo Fernandez and Nunes in promising positions, only for Brighton's backline and Verbruggen to hold firm.

Maresca later replaced Enzo Fernandez with Nico O'Reilly, who created a clear chance for Ndiaye shortly after coming on, but the forward failed to convert from the back post. Phil Foden and Allan Elias were also introduced as City chased an equaliser.

Brighton had further opportunities to settle the result, with Jack Hinshelwood striking the side netting in what Yahoo Sports called another significant chance. Gianluigi Donnarumma also nearly gifted the visitors a second goal with a misjudged pass late on, though it was cleared by his own defence.

City pressed until the close, with Abdukodir Khusanov testing Verbruggen, who parried the ball into O'Reilly's path, but the midfielder's rebound header missed the target.

Yahoo Sports' player assessment singled out Nunes, rated 5/10 for his failure to deal with the cross that led to the goal, and Khusanov, also given 5/10 for being caught out of position repeatedly as Brighton exploited his unfamiliar role between right-back and centre-half. Donnarumma was rated 6/10, largely untroubled on his line but culpable for the loose pass that briefly threatened a second goal.

Guardian Football's Jamie Jackson argued that no alarm should be sounded at City despite the second straight league defeat, framing the loss as the product of Brighton taking one of their rare chances rather than a deeper malaise.

Jackson credited Hürzeler's team for a result that lifts them to third in the table, writing that they are "worth the lofty position" and raising the prospect of Champions League qualification for Brighton this season.