Maresca faces tests as Manchester City suffer second straight league defeat at Etihad

Enzo Maresca's Manchester City were beaten 1-0 by Brighton at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday in a Premier League match, following last weekend's defeat at Aston Villa to leave City with consecutive top-flight losses. "A bit strange," Maresca said of the result, adding: "It is the same feeling as after Aston Villa away. We did enough to deserve something more but we have to move on and try to win games."

Maresca began his tenure with seven straight Premier League victories but that run has ended and the early optimism has been tempered by recent results. Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak and chief executive Ferran Soriano were watching from the stands on Saturday as Manchester City, who missed out on last season's title to Arsenal, remained top on goal difference but risked being overtaken if Arsenal beat Liverpool on Sunday (kick-off 16:30 GMT). City have conceded 10 goals in nine league games this term, double the number conceded by Mikel Arteta's side.

Errors at the back have contributed to the problems, with individual mistakes cited after the Villa defeat and Matheus Nunes criticised following the Brighton game. Maresca has been clear about his goalkeeper choice, insisting it is "Donnarumma plus 10" on the teamsheet, but City have managed only one clean sheet in their past eight matches across all competitions. The home loss brought consecutive Premier League defeats for City for the first time in 14 months.

Asked about the defensive errors, Maresca asked: "Why?" and added: "Sometimes it happens." He continued: "Unfortunately it is happening for our players but I think it is part of the game, part of football. It happens many times against us. "We need to analyse what we can do better and try to move on."

Erling Haaland — who had scored seven goals in his past seven Premier League games against Brighton — was unable to score on Saturday, with reports noting he was short of service during the match. Iliman Ndiaye also had an off day and is recorded as having missed the best opportunities of City's first and second halves.

City's midfield was extensively overhauled in the summer at a cost of £327m after the departures of captain Bernardo Silva and 2024 Ballon d'Or winner Rodri. Incoming fees included a joint-Premier League record £125m for Enzo Fernandez, £116m on Elliot Anderson and £86m for Ayyoub Bouaddi. Maresca, who typically fields two of the summer signings behind a number 10, selected all three against Brighton and left Rayan Cherki and Phil Foden on the bench. He said: "I expected a physical game," and added: "Analysing them, watching them, they are aggressive man-to-man. I watched the games they have played. "I think it was a good idea to start with three physical midfielders and I was also thinking about last 20-30 minutes to refresh with Rayan, Allan and Phil. "In this moment it is like this and we need just to move on."

Attacking statistics underline a contrasting picture: City have scored 20 goals in nine Premier League games this season, yet the defeat to Brighton ended a run of 23 consecutive top-flight matches in which they had scored. The 21 shots registered on Saturday were the most the club have had at home without scoring since they managed 23 attempts against Tottenham in November 2024, and over the past two top-flight games City have scored only once despite creating nine big chances. Maresca said: "I think also in this moment we are the second team in terms of scoring in the Premier League. "That means we are scoring goals but in this moment we are conceding silly goals that we can avoid and hopefully we can avoid in the next game."

City travel to RB Leipzig on Wednesday for their next fixture in the Champions League, where they will aim to return to winning ways.