Matheus Nunes was deemed to have handballed in the box
Manchester City threw away a 1-0 lead at Brighton to lose at the AMEX Stadium for the second year running. Erling Haaland had scored the opening goal and City looked comfortable for the opening hour.
However, a quadruple Brighton change midway through the second half instantly changed the mood inside the stadium and Brighton began to threaten. They quickly won a penalty when Lewis Dunk's effort hit Matheus Nunes's elbow and James Milner converted.
James Trafford made a terrific late stop to keep the game level but seconds later Brajan Gruda grabbed the winner.
Here are the [City](https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/all-about/manchester-city-fc) player ratings from the Manchester Evening News:
**Trafford:** Made two very good saves to keep Brighton out but couldn't stop the penalty. An outstanding effort to keep out the deflected Van Hecke effort at the end. **8**
**Nunes:** Nearly caught out with sloppy play in the first half and his elbows were inexplicably high to give away the penalty. Worsened after it. **4**
**Khusanov:** Played very well for a lot of the game, but it was a reckless tackle that earned him a yellow and led to the penalty. **6**
**Stones:** Organised the defence well and is starting to glide again as he moves into midfield on a regular basis but fell apart with the team at the end. **6**
**Ait-Nouri:** Made some excellent contributions going forward, including to win the ball back for Haaland's opener. A few moments where he was too loose though and he was booked. **6**
**Rodri:** Looked rusty on his first start in 11 months - understandably! - but even as he works back to fitness his presence helped the team in the middle. **6**
**Silva:** Put in plenty of useful work, although will be disappointed to have lost Dunk for the free-kick that brought the penalty. **6**
**Reijnders:** Full of running, intelligent passing and clever passes in the final third. Unlucky that it didn't bring more. **7**
**Bobb:** Had so much quality for everything but that final shot or pass in the box, troubling Brighton whenever he got on the ball. **7**
**Marmoush:** A lovely ball through for Haaland should have brought a goal and his pace and touch got City out of a number of jams. **7**
**Haaland:** Took his goal well but a player with his high standards could and probably should have had more. **6**
**Substitutes**
**O'Reilly (for Silva, 72):** Struggled to get the ball down. **5**
**Doku (for Marmoush, 72):** Couldn't offer much as City rarely got the ball. **6**
**Lewis (for Nunes, 85):** Couldn't stop the tide. **5**
**Dias (for Khusanov, 85):** Couldn't stop the tide. **5**
**Not used:** Ederson, Ake, Akanji, Gonzalez, Gundogan