Brighton Beat Man City 2-1: The Citizens' Tough Start to the Premier League Season

Liputan6.com, Jakarta Manchester City suffered another defeat after a 2-1 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion in the 2025/2026 Premier League season.

This intense match took place at the Amex Stadium on Sunday, August 31, 2025, and was the highlight of Week 3 of the league.

This defeat marked a less than convincing start for the Citizens, who have now lost two of their first three matches of the season.

Having taken the lead through Erling Haaland, Manchester City failed to hold on to their lead.

Brighton managed to turn the game around thanks to a James Milner penalty and a last-minute winner from Brajan Gruda, securing three crucial points for the hosts.

Action from today's fixture against Brighton 📺 pic.twitter.com/pw9VlOecVv

— Manchester City (@ManCity) August 31, 2025

Manchester City, who dominated from the start, managed to break the deadlock in the 34th minute through their star striker, Erling Haaland.

This goal was a special moment for Haaland, who scored it in his 100th Premier League appearance.

However, the Citizens' lead was short-lived. Brighton were awarded a penalty in the 67th minute after Matheus Nunes handled the ball in the box.

39-year-old James Milner calmly converted the penalty, equalizing the score and scoring his first penalty in the Premier League since 2019.

Substitute Brajan Gruda was the hero for his team, converting a perfect pass from Kaoru Mitoma in the 89th minute.

This goal secured a 2-1 victory for Brighton over the Premier League giants.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola couldn't hide his disappointment after the defeat to Brighton.

“We concede the goal and after that it shifted,” Guardiola said.

“We made a good hour and then we were not good, (and) we forgot to pass the ball, just played long balls and we were not good enough. It is what it is.”

A similar sentiment was expressed by Manchester City's key midfielder, Rodri.

The Spaniard asserted that they are "not at the level they should be".

This is the third time the Citizens have lost at Brighton in their last five Premier League matches, despite taking the lead.

Gruda's 89th-minute winner also became the latest Premier League winner scored against Pep Guardiola's team.

This match also marked Rodri's return as a starter in the Premier League after a long absence due to a knee injury since September 2024.

Despite his return, the team's overall performance was still unstable, considering that City started the season with a landslide 4-0 victory but then suffered two consecutive defeats.

After a shocking defeat to Brighton, Manchester City will face another tough challenge.

They are scheduled to face city rivals Manchester United, who is recently won against Burnley, on September 14th.

This will be a challenging match for The Citizen as their city rivals are on a positive trend.

The 2025/2026 Premier League season begins on August 15th, 2025, with the opening match between Liverpool and Bournemouth.

The season will conclude on May 24th, 2026.

After a convincing 4-0 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers, they have now suffered two consecutive defeats; 0-2 against Tottenham and 2-1 against Brighton.