‘Kid mistakes!’ - Rodri slams Manchester City team-mates after Pep Guardiola’s Cityzens throw away lead as Brighton claim dramatic late victory

City's underwhelming performance against Brighton at the Amex Stadium on Sunday drew the wrath of Rodri as Guardiola's troops succumbed to their second Premier League loss in a row after goals from James Milner and Brajan Gruda inspired a late comeback victory for the hosts.

Sunday's defeat is the first time the Cityzens have lost two of their opening three top-flight fixtures under Guardiola and the first time since 2004-05 overall. The result has left City languishing in 12th position in the table. It was an afternoon where the 10-time league champions played some really fantastic football but failed to conjure any noteworthy chances outside Erling Haaland's opener in the 34th minute.

Rodri urged his team-mates to raise their level and avoid making "kid mistakes" speaking after the game. Matheus Nunes was guilty of a handball in the second half which allowed former City midfielder Milner to equalise in the 67th minute. The defence fell asleep when their concentration levels should have been at the highest, with Georginio Rutter, Kaoru Mitoma and Brajan Gruda all combining to rip City's backline to shreds to net home a dramatic late winner in the 89th minute.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Rodri said: "To be honest, I don't care. The people can think whatever they want. We just have to work hard and focus on us and let's talk at the end of the season. We're disappointed because we are Manchester City and we come here to win, but this is the reality. We are not at the level for a long, long time.

"The only way to come back is to look to ourselves. We started well but the second half we dropped a little bit. Then at home they have pressure and we make two mistakes and it's 2-1.

"We are missing the level. I don't know, call it how you want. It is a matter of the team and the changes, new players have to adapt, and of course when you change the team that much it is difficult. This is our reality, it is not for excuses and we have to see this is not the way to achieve things. Let's go to the break and refresh the mind.

"I do think that we had control of the game and we were not our best. We did not create our best match but today we should win because we concede two big mistakes and counter attacks. Some of the mistakes we are doing are kid mistakes, you are not concentrating and paying attention. The reality is that we have to raise the level if we want to compete."

After splashing over £150 million (€173m/$203m) on new signings such as Rayan Ait-Nouri, Rayan Cherki, Tijjani Reijnders and James Trafford, City were expected to bounce back from a shockingly poor 2024-25 season. However, Guardiola has a lot of head-scratching to do as he attempts to figure out how he can lead an upheaval in fortunes. City face a tricky fixture after the international break as they host rivals Manchester United on September 14.