Maresca identifies Man City problem after Brighton defeat

Enzo Maresca says City must cut out the “silly goals” after Brighton inflicted a second successive Premier League defeat on his side.

Yasin Ayari’s 11th-minute goal was enough to give Brighton a 1-0 victory at the Etihad on Saturday, a week after City lost 2-1 at Aston Villa.

Maresca frustrated by costly City mistakes

Maresca saw similarities between the two defeats, believing City had created enough opportunities to take something from both games without making them count.

“It’s a very similar feeling to what we had after the Aston Villa game,” he said. “Unfortunately, we created enough to get some points, but we didn’t score.”

City spent much of the Brighton game on the front foot, particularly after half-time, but were unable to find a way past Bart Verbruggen. Iliman Ndiaye went close on more than one occasion as the home side pushed for an equaliser.

Maresca felt the opportunities were there and admitted City needed to be more clinical inside the penalty area. His concern was not restricted to what happened in attack, however, after another defensive lapse proved decisive.

Ayari’s winner came after Matheus Nunes was unable to cut out Diego Gomez’s ball across the penalty area, leaving City behind after only 11 minutes.

“In the last two or three games it’s happened many times,” Maresca said of the defensive mistakes. “We are conceding silly goals and we can avoid that.”

Back-to-back defeats have brought City’s perfect start under Maresca to an abrupt end after seven successive Premier League victories, but the Italian was reluctant to attach too much significance to two results.

Focus on addressing errors

He said nobody at the club was happy with the defeats but pointed out that City were never going to win every game. After nine league matches, his focus remains on addressing the mistakes rather than dwelling on a difficult week.

“We need to improve things, move on and try to win games as soon as possible,” Maresca said.

City have now encountered their first setback of the new era. Maresca’s assessment was relatively straightforward: the chances are still being created, but they need to be taken and the mistakes at the other end need to stop.

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