Pep Guardiola concedes Premier League title after losing to Brighton | Football News

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has conceded the Premier League title after Brighton & Hove Albion stunned the reigning champions with a 2-1 victory.
This loss marks Manchester City’s fourth consecutive defeat, their worst run since 2006. It’s also the first time Guardiola has experienced a four-game losing streak in his managerial career.
City’s losing streak began with a League Cup defeat at Tottenham last week, followed a 2-1 loss to Bournemouth — their first league defeat in 11 months — and a 4-1 thrashing Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League.
“Maybe after seven years winning six Premier Leagues, maybe one year another team deserves it,” Guardiola told BBC Sport.
“We are not able to play a complete 90 minutes right now,” he told BBC Match of the Day. “We played a really good first half and had moments in the second half. We lost again, so we need to clear our heads, go into the international break, and hopefully our players come back fit.”
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola. (Reuters)
When asked if this was the end of an era, following City’s unprecedented four consecutive top-flight titles, Guardiola responded, “It’s what people want, right? That’s normal — we’ve won a lot. I’d just like to have the full squad available.”
A full squad seems unlikely anytime soon, as star midfielder Rodri, this year’s Ballon d’Or winner, is out for the season with an ACL injury. Guardiola also has his four primary center-backs — Ruben Dias, John Stones, Manuel Akanji, and Nathan Ake — unavailable, and playmaker Kevin De Bruyne is not yet fully fit following his injury.
“We have to try and start winning games again. We couldn’t sustain the rhythm in the second half. Four defeats in a row — we need to make changes quickly.
“The schedule becomes difficult, but things will improve when players return,” he added.
City’s next game is after the international break, at home to Tottenham in the Premier League.