With just 12 minutes left, Guardiola’s troubled side were clinging onto the lead given to them by Erling Haaland in the first half.

But they 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.

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.

The slump continued as they failed to kill off Brighton before the second half implosion that threatens to derail their bid for a fifth successive Premier League title.

Second-placed City are two points behind leaders Liverpool, who can extend that gap to five points if they beat Aston Villa at Anfield later on Saturday.

City have been beset by injury problems, most notably the loss of Ballon d’Or winner Rodri for the rest of the season.

Kevin De Bruyne, Nathan Ake and Manuel Akanji were only fit enough for the bench, while Ruben Dias, John Stones, Jeremy Doku and Jack Grealish were absent from the squad.

Guardiola had insisted he would solve City’s problems but he has so far been unable to come up with the answer to their mounting crisis.

City had paid for failing to turn their dominance into more than a one-goal lead against Sporting and profligacy was a problem again on the south coast of England.

City in turmoil
Savinho should have put City ahead when Mateo Kovacic’s pass sent him surging into the Albion area, but the Brazilian’s weak finish allowed Bart Verbruggen to save.

Kovacic was the catalyst when City took the lead in the 23rd minute with a goal equal parts inspiration and perspiration.

The Croatia midfielder’s inch-perfect pass split the Brighton defence but Haaland still had work to do as his initial shot was blocked by Verbruggen, leaving the Norwegian in a race with Jan Paul van Hecke to poke the ball in before it could be cleared.

Haaland’s 15th goal in all competitions this season was only the second time he had netted in his last six league appearances.

Haaland’s 75th league goal since joining City in 2022 was almost followed by the 76th moments later, his low drive repelled by Verbruggen at the near post.

Kovacic’s long-range volley forced another good stop from the increasingly over-worked Verbruggen.

But City fatally dropped their intensity just before half time, allowing Fabian Hurzeler’s side to gain a foothold.

Jack Hinshelwood wasted a golden opportunity to haul Brighton level early in the second half as his close-range header from Pervis Estupinan’s cross was palmed away by Ederson.

Ederson raced off his line to save at Kaoru Mitoma’s feet before Pedro scuffed wide with the goal at his mercy.

Pedro made amends for that miss as the Brazilian punished woeful City defending to equalise with 12 minutes left.

Mitoma was given too much space for a pass into Welbeck in the six-yard box.

Rico Lewis’s block-tackle stopped Welbeck shooting but Josko Gvardiol and Matheus Nunes didn’t clear the danger, allowing Pedro to pounce with a close-range strike.

Guardiola slumped into his seat but there was worse to come for the City boss in the 83rd minute.

Pedro slipped his pass through City’s leaky defence and O’Riley timed his run perfectly to clip a composed finish past Ederson from 10 yards to leave the champions in turmoil.

Two goals from Yoane Wissa helped Brentford turn the tables against Bournemouth and earn a thrilling 3-2 win at the Gtech Community Stadium.

A dreadful mistake at the back from Sepp van den Berg allowed Evanilson to round Mark Flekken and open the scoring for Andoni Iroala’s Cherries, but they weren’t behind for long as Wissa headed home at the back post.

Bournemouth regained the advantage four minutes into the second half, courtesy of Justin Kluivert, but they had barely caught their breath before Danish midfielder Mikkel Damsgaard drew Thomas Frank’s side level again.

Wissa’s seventh goal of the season eight minutes later turned out to be the winner, hoisting Brentford into the top half of the Premier League table and above their dogged opponents.

Crystal Palace 0-2 Fulham

Fulham’s superb start to the Premier League season continued with a 2-0 win over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.

Goals from Emile Smith Rowe and substitute Harry Wilson lifts the Cottagers up into the Premier League’s top six and was just reward for another fine performance on the road.

Smith Rowe’s goal came courtesy of an error from new Palace centre-back Maxence Lacroix, but the former Arsenal playmaker still had plenty to do as he fired a left-footed strike past the helpless Dean Henderson.

A second goal for Smith Rowe was chalked off by VAR but substitute Wilson snatched his third goal of the week after climbing off the bench, putting the game to bed for a jubilant Marco Silva.

The home side had Daichi Kamada sent off with just over 15 minutes to go and in truth could have lost by more – Wilson also having a second goal of the afternoon ruled out for offside.

West Ham 0-0 Everton

West Ham United and Everton played out a goalless draw at London Stadium, increasing the pressure on home manager Julen Lopetegui.

The Hammers have been uninspiring for most of the campaign, despite spending a considerable amount of money on new signings, and there wasn’t much to shout about once more as they struggled to create clear-cut openings against the Toffees.

Jordan Pickford did make a terrific save from West Ham substitute Danny Ings in stoppage time, preserving a point for the visitors, but Everton were largely the better side in a game that failed to inspire.

Indeed, Everton’s profligacy in front of goal was their undoing, leaving both teams to wonder what might have been as the international break approaches.

Wolves 2-0 Southampton

Wolverhampton Wanderers picked up their first Premier League win of the season with a vital 2-0 win over fellow strugglers Southampton.

Gary O’Neil’s side were glued to the bottom of the table as the day got underway having failed to win in their opening 10 games of the campaign.

But any Molineux nerves were quickly settled by Pablo Sarabia’s early goal – the Spaniard rounding Aaron Ramsdale in Southampton’s goal to give Wolves the lead with less than two minutes on the clock.

Matheus Cunha’s brilliant goal took the wind out of Southampton’s sails early in the second half, sealing a crucial victory for Wolves while transferring the pressure onto opposition manager Russell Martin – his Saints side now prop up the table after suffering their ninth defeat in 11 games.

Haaland, who had scored just once in his last five Premier League matches, got on the scoresheet in the 23rd minute to put Manchester City 1-0 up over Brighton.

Haaland opened the scoring for Manchester City against Brighton

In doing so, the Norwegian scored his 75th Premier League goal in just 77 games.

What made Haaland’s feat even more remarkable is the fact he reached the 75-goal mark in 16 games fewer than what previous record holder Alan Shearer managed.

The Premier League’s all-time leading goalscorer racked up his 75th goal in March 1995 thanks to a double in Blackburn’s 3-1 home win over Arsenal.

Records have tumbled ever since Haaland completed his £51.1million move from Borussia Dortmund to City in June 2022.

In his debut Premier League campaign, Haaland’s 36 goals set the bar for the most scored in an English top-flight season as he surpassed Andy Cole and Alan Shearer’s tally of 34.

The record for most goals in a single season across all competitions by a Premier League player also belongs to Haaland, with his 52 strikes in 2022/23 comfortably ahead of Mohamed Salah and Ruud van Nistelrooy, who scored 44 times in the 2017/18 and 2002/03 terms respectively.

Haaland was also the quickest in Premier League history to reach the half-ton, doing so in only 48 games.

He got to the 50-goal mark in 17 games fewer than previous record holder Andy Cole.

Haaland’s blistering start to the 2024/25 Premier League season also meant he set the new record for most goals scored inside three, four and five games.

The Norwegian marksman had seven goals from the opening three fixtures, which then become nine from four and then 10 from five.