Brighton’s bold changes overturn City as Gruda strikes in the 89th minute

Brajan Gruda came off the bench to score an 89th‑minute winner as Brighton and Hove Albion stunned Manchester City 2-1, sealing the Seagulls’ first Premier League victory of the season and condemning Pep Guardiola’s side to back‑to‑back defeats. After Erling Haaland had poked City ahead on his 100th Premier League appearance, James Milner equalised from the spot before Gruda’s cool finish completed a rousing comeback on the south coast.

City controlled a cagey first half, but Fabian Hurzeler’s quadruple substitution just after the hour transformed the game’s energy. Milner levelled on 67 minutes following a Matheus Nunes handball, James Trafford made outstanding stops to keep City in it, and then Kaoru Mitoma released Gruda, who rounded Trafford and evaded Rayan Aït-Nouri to slide home. City remain on three points from three games; Brighton climb to four.

A manager’s gamble that changed everything

Brighton had offered little before the interval, registering only a single effort as their passing lacked precision. Recognising the drift, Hurzeler introduced Gruda, Milner, Georginio Rutter and Yasin Ayari in a quadruple change that injected pace, personality and directness. Almost immediately, Mitoma drove at City and slipped in Yankuba Minteh to force a fine save from Trafford, a sign of the tide turning.

The breakthrough came via a Brighton captain’s intervention: Lewis Dunk’s cross struck the outstretched arm of Nunes, and Milner — at 39 years and 239 days, the Premier League’s second‑oldest scorer behind Teddy Sheringham — buried the penalty for his first Brighton goal. From there the hosts kept probing, pinning City back and threatening repeatedly in behind a retreating back line.

Haaland’s landmark, City’s lost control

City’s best football came before the break. Bart Verbruggen had foiled Haaland’s close‑range header on 25 minutes, but the striker would not be denied nine minutes later, poking in from close range after Omar Marmoush slid a pass through. Haaland had earlier dragged shots wide, chances that would prove costly by full time.

The tenor changed completely after the restart. City failed to register a single shot on target in the second half and looked increasingly vulnerable to runners slipping in behind. Rodri, making his first league start since last September, faded after a composed opening. “Some of the mistakes we are doing are kids’ mistakes… we have to raise the level if we want to compete,” he said.

Trafford’s saves delay the inevitable

Under scrutiny after last weekend’s error against Tottenham, Trafford responded with a string of saves that kept City afloat for long stretches. He tipped an early long‑range Mitoma effort behind, denied Minteh at close quarters and then produced a remarkable, back‑stretching stop to claw out Jan Paul van Hecke’s deflected strike.

Yet Brighton’s pressure was relentless. When another turnover released the hosts late on, Mitoma chose the pass perfectly and Gruda showed icy composure, rounding Trafford and rolling into the empty net. For the German attacker, signed from Mainz last year, it was a third goal for the club and the decisive moment of a breathless finale.

Early‑season implications

City’s 2-0 loss to Spurs was followed here by a second‑half unraveling: two goals conceded, no shots on target after half-time, and control ceded against a side that had troubled them last season as well. Guardiola’s team sit on three points from three games and will head into the international break searching for answers.

Brighton, whose performances have often outpaced results in recent weeks, found both energy and execution when it mattered. They rise to four points and take momentum into a trip to Bournemouth on Saturday (15:00 BST), while City must reset quickly before hosting Manchester United in the season’s first derby on Sunday, 14 September (16:30 BST).