Manchester City were ‘abject’ in their 2-1 defeat to Brighton and put in one of their worst second-half performances to throw away the lead, Jamie Redknapp has claimed.
Brighton sucker-punched City with late goals from Joao Pedro and Matt O’Riley to steal the points, after the visitors missed a litany of chances in the first half despite Erling Haaland‘s opener.
It means Pep Guardiola has lost four games on the trot for the first time as City boss and the result left the champions two points behind Liverpool ahead of their match against Aston Villa.
‘That’s one of the worst halves of football I’ve seen from a Pep Guardiola side. They were abject. They didn’t defend, they didn’t win individual battles, they didn’t pass the ball forward at times,’ Redknapp told Sky Sports at the Amex Stadium.
‘First half, they looked excellent. The problem was they should have been 3-0 up. The second half, when Hurzeler made the subs, only one team was going to win it.
Jamie Redknapp has slammed Manchester City for their ‘adject’ performance against Brighton
City squandered chances and let in two late goals to slump to their fourth consecutive loss
‘Once that game starts running away from you you’re looking at characters.
‘Who’s going to dig in? Who’s going to make that challenge?
‘Who’s going to get on the ball when you need it most? Who’s going to make this team calm? There was no one to do it.
‘The two centre-backs, it was very difficult. (Kyle) Walker and (Jahmai) Simpson-Pusey, they’re not a regular partnership and you could see it.
‘They looked like a bunch of strangers. The goals summed it up. They were really poor goals from City’s point of view.
‘But all credit to Brighton. They were fantastic.’
Brighton went fourth in the Premier League after the win and sit just four behind City.
Fabian Hurzeler’s substitutions paid off as Pedro and O’Riley back came off the bench to score.
Redknapp felt City had nobody to ‘dig in’ and make their team-mates ‘calm’ as things fell apart
Redknapp: Kyle Walker (pictured) and Jahmai Pimpson-Pusey looked like a ‘bunch of strangers’
The champions’ frailty without Ballon d’Or winner Rodri in the middle of the park is quite the contrast compared to previous seasons, where they have conceded less than a goal per game on average.
City have lost 2-1 to Tottenham in the Carabao Cup, 2-1 to Bournemouth in the Premier League, 4-1 at Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League, and now 2-1 to Brighton, the first of those games to be at home.
Redknapp added: ‘It is fixable but it’s not going to be the same. There is no way they lose those four games if Rodri plays. Second half they lost that little bit of an edge. They lost individual battles.
They didn’t have that spark to get back in the game. Now it’s about they’ve got to show some character. They can’t carry on the way they are. That back four when I saw it at the start of the game I was scratching my head. Gvardiol and Simpson-Pusey didn’t work.
