When a team lose the aura of champions, it can go absolutely. Opponents suddenly look at them and \u00adwonder what on earth once seemed so intimidating, how on earth a bunch of \u00adplayers in these shirts, even with this manager, could seem so unbeatable.<\/p>\n
At half-time Manchester City<\/a> led, and seemed comfortable in their lead against opponents who had never got going. But by the time Brajan Gruda calmly rounded James Trafford and dumped Rayan A\u00eft-Nouri on his \u00adbackside before rolling into an empty net, a Brighton winner had come to seem almost \u00adoverdue.<\/p>\n Seconds earlier Trafford had made a remarkable save, stretching back and to his left to claw away a deflected Jan Paul van Hecke shot. But there had been opportunities before that as well; the Brighton surge had become relentless.<\/p>\n Fabian H\u00fcrzeler, the Brighton manager, must take credit for a quadruple substitution on the hour that transformed the game, but just as striking was how vulnerable City became to balls played in behind their\u00a0defensive line, particularly after\u00a0the substitution of Bernardo Silva on 72 minutes.<\/p>\n The structure that once gave City a stifling control has vanished almost entirely, the optimism of that \u00adopening romp against Wolves<\/a> long since departed. Give them space and they will still take advantage, but put them under pressure and the fissures and flaws are evident. Almost every recent opponent \u2013 Crystal Palace, Al\u00a0Hilal, Tottenham, even Wolves in the opening minutes \u2013 has shown how the space between back four and keeper can be exploited.<\/p>\n The sense for Brighton until now had been of performances \u00adhaving been rather better than results. Although they conceded a stoppage\u2011time equali\u00adser at home against Fulham <\/a>and then lost at Everton, where they missed a penalty and twice hit the woodwork, they had won the xG convincingly in both games. But they began poorly, undermined by a lack of precision and decisiveness, a laxity that created a mood of frustration; a pass completion rate of under 75% before half\u2011time told its own story.<\/p>\n City weren\u2019t at anything like their fluent best, which is perhaps no real \u00adsurprise given the number of \u00adplayers they are trying to integrate and the \u00addisruption to their pre-season caused by partici\u00adpation in the Club World Cup. Even the return of Rodri for his first \u00adPremier League start since he \u00addamaged a knee against Arsenal last September could not \u00adgenerate the old sense of calm.<\/p>\n Erling Haaland in despair after the final whistle. Photograph: Justin Setterfield\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Although there were some signs of at least some of the familiar City rhythm returning, this remains a team more dependent on \u00adindividuals for attacking penetration than the stereotype of a Pep Guardiola side.<\/p>\n Erling Haaland, as ever, was the major threat, although these days even he misfires more than he scores. After scuffing one early chance, he had dragged another effort just wide and then headed straight at Bart Verbruggen from close range when, presented with an opportunity following Omar Marmoush\u2019s run, he dinked the ball neatly over the goalkeeper. Brighton, perhaps, will feel they should have cleared, Marmoush somehow bundling through a challenge from Van Hecke before dabbing a pass between Lewis Dunk\u2019s legs.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n Sign up to Football Daily<\/p>\n Kick off your evenings with the Guardian’s take on the world of football<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: <\/strong>Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n Perhaps because of that indivi\u00addualism, though, City are \u00advulnerable to counterattacks, in the way that Guardiola sides playing below their best often are. It is a long time since they really controlled a midfield as they did so often in the treble \u00adseason. Long before \u00adGruda\u2019s winner, Trafford had had to make a good saves to keep out Kauro Mitoma and Yakuba Minteh, while Diego G\u00f3mez squandered a similar opportunity by manhandling Abdukodir Khusanov.<\/p>\n Minteh\u2019s chance, in particular, seemed to unsettle City and it was soon after that, after the \u00adneedless con\u00adcession of a free-kick on the right by Khusanov, that Dunk\u2019s volley smacked into Matheus Nunes\u2019s upraised arm. James Milner, six years after he last scored, converted against his former club to become the \u00adsecond oldest (behind Teddy Sheringham), as well as the second youngest (behind James Vaughan), scorer in Premier League history.<\/p>\n What was notable then was just how incapable City seemed of stopping the Brighton flow. Trafford made save after save before, in the 89th minute, another turnover led to a four-on-three break. Mitoma picked his pass with typical composure and Gruda, presented with yet another one-on-one, almost casually converted.<\/p>\n City, somehow, had lost a game they seemed to have under control with half an hour to go. But worse than that, they no longer have the demeanour of champions. It may return, but for now other Premier League sides will look at them and see opportunity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When a team lose the aura of champions, it can go absolutely. 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