Brighton 2-1 Manchester City: Talking Points from Sunday’s Upset.
- Dhruv Chopra
- Sep 4
- 5 min read
Updated: Sep 8
Following Manchester City’s early acquisition of talent in the summer transfer window, expectations were high that Pep Guardiola’s side was set to bounce back from their relatively lacklustre 2024/25 campaign. Three weeks into the season, that is not the case.
A 2-1 loss to Brighton is City’s second defeat in their first three league games. Promising signs have been overshadowed by stagnation in possession and costly errors. What went wrong for City at the Amex on Sunday? Here are some key takeaways from this Premier League upset.
Pep Guardiola’s New Tactical System
Calls for change resonated through the air in the aftermath of City’s defeat to Tottenham at the Etihad, and while Pep is adamant in sticking to his playing philosophy, he deployed a new-look tactical system against Brighton.
On paper, City lined up in the same 4-3-3 formation that has been a mainstay of Guardiola’s coaching career, but the rotations that were visible in possession were vastly different. Guardiola typically likes his wingers to stay high and wide, maximising the playing area to make room for midfielders and inverted fullbacks to play intricate combinations in the half-spaces. Against Brighton, however, Pep chose to forgo this setup.
Omar Marmoush and Oscar Bobb were instructed to invert to form a narrow front three. This created room for the fullbacks Rayan Aït-Nouri and Matheus Nunes to overlap. Meanwhile, Rodri adopted the role of ‘Lavolpiana’, dropping down between Khusanov and Stones to form a back three in buildup.
Reijnders drifted between the lines in an explosive midfield role, while Bernardo Silva aided passing sequences on the right side. These movements resulted in the formation of a pseudo-3-4-2-1 formation from City in buildup.
Theoretically, this setup plays to the strengths of City’s wingers. In an inverted role, Marmoush could play off of Haaland as a second striker, while Oscar Bobb’s control in tight spaces meant that he could wreak havoc between Brighton’s lines.
However, the system ended up backfiring drastically, allowing Brighton to exploit the spaces in behind. Still, it is a good sign for City fans that Pep still has tactical adaptability in his repertoire and can toggle between strategic systems as per the opposition.
Yankuba Minteh and the Problem on City’s Left.
The salient advantage of an inverted winger and overlapping fullback combination is to disorient the opposition’s man-marking system. By drifting inside, Marmoush’s intention was to drag Brighton’s right back Joël Veltman with him, thus opening up space for Aït-Nouri on the flank.
What City did not expect, however, was the immense defensive performance put in by Brighton right winger Yankuba Minteh.
In the above excerpt from the match, we see how Marmoush has succeeded in drawing Veltman inside, but Minteh tracks back a commendable amount to ensure that Aït-Nouri does not have autonomy on the wing. This simultaneously formed a back five for Brighton, who were content with letting City’s CBs control possession.
Moreover, Minteh was an indefatigable presence in Brighton’s defensive structure. The Gambian won a total of nine ground duels on Sunday, as compared to Aït-Nouri’s four. Minteh also forced the Algerian to lose possession 12 times in the match.
This does not imply the failure of Pep’s tactical tweak, nor does it tell a tale of Aït-Nouri’s attacking shortcomings. In fact, using the Algerian left back in such an aggressive overlapping role proved to pay dividends for City at the Club World Cup, and his close control and skill going forward are admirable. Rather, the problem on City’s left stemmed from an exemplary performance by Yankuba Minteh, who did not put a foot wrong defensively for the Seagulls.
Brighton’s Quadruple Substitution and City’s Defensive Woes
While Haaland’s missed chances proved costly, City largely dominated the first half of the game, probing for an opening in Brighton’s compact structure. Defensively, however, the problem arose in the second half, with a remarkable quadruple substitution for Fabian Hürzeler’s side around the hour mark.
The changes manifested a complete upheaval of Brighton’s midfield and attack, with Hürzeler replacing both CDMs in the double pivot as well as his attacking midfielder and striker. However, rather than radically altering his tactical setup, the German coach merely made like-for-like replacements for the sake of added intensity and fresh legs.
The effect of this was imminent. City’s defensive woes arose from Brighton stretching their backline on the counter with blistering pace, which was visible in the 62nd minute when Brighton manufactured a 4v3 scenario on the counter:
This was possible because of Aït-Nouri’s advanced position as a winger on the flank, which exposed City’s left back area to counterattacks. As Rodri was also relatively advanced to aid City in their typical crescent-like passing structure in Brighton’s half, Khusanov had to shift across to cover for him, resulting in a gap between the centre backs. Minteh made the run into this exact gap (yellow arrow), eventually forcing a great save from James Trafford.
What was arguably a key reason for City’s loss was their apparent dearth of desire to score a second goal. While they still dominated possession in the early part of the second half, their play appeared lethargic, and there was no urgency for the team to double their advantage.
Once James Milner’s penalty had drawn the score level, City pushed their numbers forward even more in search of a winner, and Brighton’s counterattacking strategy flourished. For the rest of the game, their formation was more a 4-2-4 than a 4-2-3-1, with CAM Brajan Gruda playing as a right-sided striker. They did not bother to play through midfield, instead sending long passes to attackers and fighting for second balls. Due to City’s overlapping fullbacks, they consistently had a 4v3 numerical overload in their final third.
This switch to a 4-2-4 eventually resulted in Brighton’s winning goal. In the buildup to the winner, substitute Rico Lewis had advanced on the right for City. Brighton thus targeted the area behind him with a long ball to Mitoma, forcing John Stones to come across to cover and intercept. However, Brighton won the second ball, and Rúben Dias was faced with a numerical overload against two strikers (red area), which only transpired because of Hürzeler’s formation switch. Eventually, one striker assisted the other, with Brajan Gruda scoring the winning goal to send the Amex Stadium into ecstatic delirium.
City’s Man of the Match: James Trafford
Goalkeeper James Trafford has faced a trial by fire since his return to City. With transfer speculation surrounding both Ederson and Stefan Ortega, Trafford was immediately promoted to first in the pecking order. A stellar performance against Wolves in the opening matchweek was followed by a disastrous showing against Spurs, where Trafford’s shortcomings in possession and distribution were on palpable display. Against Brighton, however, the Englishman redeemed himself as City’s best player on the pitch, despite his concession of two goals.
Had it not been for an astounding tally of five saves in the match, including a staggering stretch to prevent Jan Paul van Hecke’s deflected effort from going in, the scoreline would have been considerably more ignominious for Pep’s side. Trafford’s performance vindicated his signing: he may not be the most mature with the ball at his feet, but in terms of traditional shot-stopping ability, he is among the best. It will be interesting to see where he stands given Gianluigi Donnarumma’s arrival in Manchester.
Overall, while City’s new tactical system looked set to work wonders on paper, noteworthy individual performances from Brighton followed by an ingenious in-game tactical switch proved to be the death knell for Pep Guardiola’s side. The lack of cutting edge in the final third that plagued them throughout last season is back. While there are flashes of brilliance, a considerable upheaval is required for Pep’s side to achieve consistency again.
