Pep Guardiola says his Manchester City player “forgot to hand over the ball” and says it’s “not enough” after losing to Brighton and Hove Albion on Sunday.
Brighton came from behind and won the first victory of the season at home.
Guardiola’s side was beaten at home by Tottenham Hotspur last week and took the lead at Amex through Erling Haaland.
Fabian Hazeler’s alternative turned the game into his mind, bringing the quadruple change after an hour, bringing scorers on his side James Milner and Brajan Gurda.
Former City midfielder Milner got equal from the penalty spot after Matthews Nunes handled the ball and grabbed the victory with an outstanding goal in the 89th minute.
In his assessment of the defeat, mayor Guardiola said that Brighton Equalizer “shifts” the game as his player and “forgotten to hand over the ball.”
He told Sky Sports: “We acknowledged our goals and then we shifted. Up until then it was really good, we had a chance, the team looked offensive and dynamic. And we had a good time and after the final 30 minutes we weren’t good.
“Earling is a big threat to us, but in general we have created a good time. After acknowledging our goals, we acknowledge that we don’t continue to do what we need to do everywhere, like Tottenham.
“We have a really good team. Of course we’ve changed a lot of the past forms we’ve seen up until now.
“Rodri has performed really well and he’s a top character. I think he’s happy he’s played 90 minutes and he can handle his minutes on the national team and after we started the season.
“I like a lot of what we’re doing and when we come back, we know the team we have, so we’re trying to compete.”
Guardiola added to BBC Sport: “Yeah. We conceded two goals. We were excellent for an hour. After the goal, we forgot to play. We were thinking about the outcome.
“I like a lot of the things we do. We started off well, like with Tottenham. I like what the team did here today, but we couldn’t win. When we acknowledged our goal, we stopped playing.
“It’s one game. The season is just beginning. We have a long, long season before us. We’ll see what happens.”
Meanwhile, Seagulls head coach Hazeller said it was “energy, strength, unity” that won the game rather than tactics.
“Soccer doesn’t have much about tactics at times,” he said. “It’s about the energy, strength and unity of the pitch. The alternatives went in and made a difference. You can always spread the energy, and it gives the whole energy of your teammates and crowds, which is very important in football.
“What we did after we scored the goal was that we had faith. We were happy and not satisfied with 1-1.
“Pep is the best coach in the world and facing him is always a big challenge. He always has new ideas and you compete with him is always the biggest challenge, but that shows that it’s a team performance.
