BRIGHTON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Pep Guardiola blasted his Manchester City flops for forgetting “how to play” after they blew the lead in a shock 2-1 defeat at Brighton on Sunday.

Guardiola’s side were in control in the first half and Erling Haaland put them ahead with his 88th goal in 100 Premier League appearances.

But Haaland was guilty of missing several chances to bolster City’s advantage and the visitors lost control in the second half.

James Milner converted a 67th-minute spot-kick to become the second oldest scorer in the competition’s history before Brajan Gruda’s 89th-minute strike condemned City to a second successive league loss.

Asked what changed the contest, Guardiola said: “The penalty. We shoot (blew) the game. We forgot to play.

“We decided to play long, more direct, it’s fine but it has to be ready for that. We were not ready to win the second balls when it happened.

“Of course the momentum in the Premier League always changes after a goal, it can do that.

“But in that moment we forgot to start to play like we had done brilliantly the first hour against a tough opponent.”

Having opened the season with a victory at Wolves, City have now lost two in a row following last weekend’s deflating 2-0 home defeat against Tottenham.

It is a worrying start for Guardiola, who saw City surrender their four-year reign as champions in tame fashion last season.

City finished 13 points behind champions Liverpool in third place, crashed out of the Champions League before the last 16 and suffered a surprise FA Cup final defeat against Crystal Palace.

Guardiola had hoped City’s substantial spending on new signings during the January and summer transfer windows would revive his spluttering team.

However, the initial returns on that investment look underwhelming.

Guardiola tried to accentuate the positives after their collapse on the south-coast, but the international break will prove an uncomfortable time for the Spaniard as he wrestles with City’s problems.

“We conceded a goal and after that we were a little bit more unstable; not unstable because I know how good they are, how strong they are,” said Guardiola, whose side host Manchester United in their next game on September 14.

“It’s because we forget to continue playing. You never, never can stop playing.”

Brighton barely threatened until boss Fabian Hurzeler made a quadruple substitution just after the hour mark, including the game-changing introductions of Milner and Gruda.

City midfielder Rodri, who made his first league start in almost a year after a serious knee injury, was unable to provide the assured play that was so influential during his team’s title-winning seasons.

And Rodri was damning in his assessment of City’s error-strewn performance.

“Some of the mistakes we are doing are kids’ mistakes, you are not concentrating and paying attention,” he said.

“The reality is that we have to raise the level if we want to compete.”