Pep Guardiola’s body language provided compelling evidence that he is now facing the closest thing to a crisis since his transitional first season at Manchester City.
Guardiola had already been perching anxiously on one knee, his face wreathed in anguish, well before Joao Pedro’s 77th-minute equaliser started the Brighton comeback that inflicted a fourth successive defeat, City’s first such sequence since 2006.
It also means Guardiola is on the worst run of his entire managerial career, having never before lost four games in a row in normal time.
The Catalan, who arrived at Manchester City in the summer of 2016, had been on hot bricks from the first whistle at Amex Stadium, his mood made worse by Matt O’Riley racing through a creaking defence to score Brighton’s deserved winner seven minutes from the end of a thunderous encounter.
And after the final whistle, Guardiola was involved in lengthy, animated dialogue with Brighton defender Jan Paul van Hecke, who looked mystified as he was on the receiving end of a lecture from the City manager.
Casting doubt on Guardiola and Manchester City is a hazardous business given their unprecedented history of Premier League success, but there is no escaping that these losses, and the manner of them, flag up trouble.
So, as City trail Premier League leaders Liverpool by five points, where is it all going wrong… and could it really be the beginning of the end for Guardiola’s dynasty at the club?
What do the stats say?
City’s mounting problems are coming at both ends of the pitch – as demonstrated when comparing their stats from last season to this.
In front of goal, they have gone from an average of 2.53 goals per game last season to two per game this – despite having more shots on goal on average, up from 18.5 to 19.6.
Are they lacking a cutting edge?
They are certainly now relying even more on Haaland, with their big chance conversion down from 38% to 29.8%.
At the other end, meanwhile, they are now conceding 1.17 goals per game, up from 0.92 goals per game, while they are facing more shots per game too.
It was also the first time Manchester City have lost a Premier League game which they led at half-time since May 2021,which also away at Brighton.
This all adds to the noise surrounding Manchester City, scrutiny will increase should poor results continue.
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