Manchester City’s 2-1 defeat at Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday marked a historic low for Pep Guardiola's side, as they endured their worst run of losses in over 18 years. This latest defeat, following previous losses to Tottenham Hotspur (EFL Cup), AFC Bournemouth (Premier League), and Sporting (UEFA Champions League), extended their streak to four consecutive defeats across all competitions.
The last time City suffered such a run was at the end of the 2005/06 season under Stuart Pearce, when they lost their final three matches to Fulham, Arsenal, and Blackburn Rovers, before starting the 2006/07 season with another loss.
This is the first time in Guardiola’s managerial career that he has lost four games in a row, having previously never experienced such a sequence at City, Bayern Munich, or Barcelona (excluding penalty shootouts). It’s also only the fourth time he has suffered back-to-back Premier League defeats, with similar streaks occurring in December 2016 (Leicester City and Chelsea), December 2018 (Crystal Palace and Leicester), and September-October 2023 (Wolves and Arsenal).
Before their defeat to Bournemouth on 2 November, City were unbeaten in 32 consecutive Premier League matches, a run stretching 11 months since their last loss at Aston Villa in December 2023.
Erling Haaland also made unwanted history in the loss to Brighton. For the first time in his Premier League career, he lost a match in which he had scored. In the previous 46 matches where he found the net, City had won 40 and drawn 6.
Brighton has caused problems for City before, with their last Premier League win over the champions coming in 2021 when they overturned a half-time deficit at the Amex Stadium.
City’s next match is scheduled for Saturday, 23 November, when they host Tottenham Hotspur, the team that began this troubling run of defeats.
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