Brighton staged a sensational late fightback to come from behind and send Manchester City to a fourth consecutive defeat with a pulsating 2-1 win at the Amex Stadium.
Substitute Matt O’Riley appeared in the area in the 83rd minute to tuck away Joao Pedro’s pass for his first Brighton goal to stun the Premier League champions, minutes after Pedro had himself equalised following a penalty box scramble.
Erling Haaland’s goal after 23 minutes had looked like being City’s winner for much of the game, the Norway striker finishing off following a sublimely calibrated pass from Mateo Kovacic.
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Yet this was a display of supreme courage the home side, Fabian Hurzeler’s players refusing to let go lightly of a chance to leap into the top four.
They deservedly levelled when half the City team descended on Danny Welbeck as he received the ball in the box and in the panic no one spotted Pedro who leapt onto the scene to finish.
And it fell to Pedro to provide the ball for O’Riley, appearing for only the second time since moving from Celtic after injury wrecked his early months at Brighton, who capped a famous night on the south coast with the coolest finish amid scintillating drama.
City had already lost three in a row for the first time since April 2018 and their injury problems had not abated. Manuel Akanji and Nathan Ake, run ragged when only half-fit in the defeat against Bournemouth, made only the bench and so 19-year-old Jahmai Simpson-Pusey was handed his first league start in central defence.
Erling Haaland put Manchester City ahead at Brighton (Adam Davy/PA)
Yet a fourth consecutive loss awaited Pep Guardiola for the first time in his managerial career, though the early signs had been that City’s blip was righted.
Kovacic, the visitors’ best player in the first half, drove upfield and slipped the ball to Savinho who was thwarted by Bart Verbruggen as he aimed for the corner.
The opening goal though was not long in arriving. Yasin Ayari gave the ball away near halfway to Kovacic and City’s midfield powerhouse cruised forward again. His ball to find Haaland was perfectly pitched, the striker’s run meticulously routed in between Igor Julio and Jan Paul van Hecke, and though Verbruggen blocked the initial shot, Haaland won the foot race with Van Hecke to crash the ball in off the crossbar from a yard out.
Haaland saw his near-post drive turned against the post by Verbruggen then moments later glanced a header over from a corner, as City threatened a second.
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Brighton had weathered a storm and they turned up the pressure on City before the break.
There might have been a penalty when Josko Gvardiol went to ground and blocked Welbeck’s effort seemingly with an arm, the chance coming after Kyle Walker had misjudged the flight of the ball, but play continued.
The second half would see Brighton throw everything at the champions in search of a route back. Jack Hinshelwood headed straight at Ederson from Pervis Estupinan’s deep cross, then Kaoru Mitoma turned Walker in the corner with impudent trickery and teed up Estupinan, whose delivery was again spot on though Georginio Rutter was not so concentrated with his wayward header.
Ederson had to race from his goal to smother at the feet of Mitoma, then Pedro drew agonised cries around the Amex when he followed up a featherlight touch to bring the ball down with an awful shot dragged wide with the goalkeeper to beat.
It looked like City would hold out, but Pedro and O’Riley had other ideas.