Manchester City’s Forwards Deserve Blame Just as Much as Their Defence After Latest Setback

Manchester City’s recent loss wasn’t just because of problems in defence. Surprisingly, it’s City’s usually strong attacking players who also deserve some of the blame this time.

When Erling Haaland scored to put City in the lead after just 23 minutes, it looked like City was on track for a smooth victory. But instead of pushing harder to secure the win, the team seemed to relax, acting as though the game was already won. This allowed Brighton, with some smart substitutions from their coach Fabian Hurzeler, to come back strong. In the final 20 minutes, City’s high defensive line was exposed, and Brighton’s Joao Pedro scored to tie the game. He then set up Matt O’Riley for the winning goal, leaving City’s players frustrated on the trip back home.

Haaland had three big chances to score before he finally got one, and young Brazilian star Savinho also had his chances to add to the score. While Savinho is clearly a talented player, he missed some key opportunities, and this lack of finishing has become an issue. Pep Guardiola may need to address this in training, especially if Savinho is to fulfill his potential.

It’s clear that City relies heavily on Haaland for goals. He’s been consistent, scoring 12 Premier League goals so far. But other players are struggling to support him. Besides Haaland, only defender Josko Gvardiol and midfielder Mateo Kovacic have scored more than once in the league.

City’s usually powerful forward line has been surprisingly quiet. Key players like Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva, Jack Grealish, and Savinho haven’t scored in the league yet this season. Foden, who won the PFA Player of the Year award, scored in a European match earlier this week but didn’t make much of an impact in this game.

Injuries and squad rotations have played a role, but City’s fans expect more from these star players. Their lack of goals and sharpness in attack is a big difference from last season, raising questions about whether selling Julian Alvarez to Atletico Madrid for £81.5 million was the right move. Without Alvarez, City has looked thin in attack.

City’s goal statistics this season show some worrying trends. They’ve only scored 22 goals in their first 11 league games, which is the same as teams like Brentford and Tottenham in mid-table. At this point last season, City had already scored 28 goals. Their defence has also been less solid, having conceded five more goals than at this time last year. This puts extra pressure on their attack, which isn’t performing at its best.

Even Haaland, while still a top scorer, is going through a bit of a quiet patch by his standards. Although he has 15 goals in his last 16 games overall, his recent Premier League form has dropped slightly. Before this match, he had only scored one goal in five league games, including matches against teams like Newcastle, Fulham, and Bournemouth, where he would usually do well.

Fans have taken notice. Over 650,000 Fantasy Premier League managers recently took Haaland out of their teams, marking him as the most-sold player in the game. This is surprising, as Haaland has usually been a guaranteed scorer. But in this game, after his goal, he was mostly quiet in the second half.

With big matches against Tottenham and Liverpool coming up, City needs to improve both in attack and defence. They can’t just rely on Haaland to score all their goals. Pep Guardiola might need to make some changes to fix the problems at both ends of the field.

City’s next few games could be important for their season. If they want to stay in the title race, they’ll need their defence to tighten up and their forwards to finish more chances. Whether it’s tactical changes or improvements in training, something has to change for City to get back to their best.