Pep Guardiola admitted injury-ravaged Manchester City cannot compete for 90 minutes after Brighton’s stunning 2-1 victory condemned the Spaniard to four successive defeats for the first in his managerial career.
With just 12 minutes left at the Amex Stadium, Guardiola’s troubled side were clinging onto the lead given to them by Erling Haaland in the first half.
But the Premier League champions collapsed in the closing stages as Joao Pedro equalised before Matt O’Riley bagged Brighton’s winner seven minutes from full-time.
For the first time in his glittering career as a manager with City, Bayern Munich and Barcelona, Guardiola has been beaten four times in a row.
It was also the first time City had lost four successive games since a run between April and August 2006 under Stuart Pearce.
“Today we played really good in the first half but we couldn’t finish the game,” Guardiola said.
“We were not consistent to maintain our game and our intensity and press and be aggressive for 90 minutes.
“The level we are playing is really good in certain moments but we are not able to continue for a long time.
“I’m pretty sure when the players come back (after the international break) and we make some individual qualities in the team, we’ll be back.”
After exiting the League Cup to Tottenham and suffering a first league loss since December at Bournemouth, City were thrashed 4-1 by Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League in midweek.
