Manchester City's habit of conceding early goals is becoming a growing concern for manager Enzo Maresca, after the team fell to defeat against Brighton and Hove Albion in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.
City had been in strong form since the Community Shield defeat, with seven consecutive Premier League wins and victories over Porto and AEK Athens in the Champions League. Even the loss to Paris Saint-Germain gave reason for optimism. However, an unwanted trait has emerged: City have now conceded three goals in the first 15 minutes of Premier League matches this campaign.
Early Goals Continue Against Brighton
After 11 minutes against Brighton, the visitors took the lead. A dangerous ball fell to Yasin Ayari, who scored from close range. This was the third time in five Premier League matches that City have conceded inside 15 minutes.
Only Ipswich Town and Crystal Palace, with five each, have conceded more early goals in the Premier League this season. Against Sunderland, they were pegged back by Brian Brobbey moments after Enzo Fernandez gave them the lead. At Aston Villa, a mistake by Marc Guehi saw Nicolas Jackson strike on six minutes.
Maresca Acknowledges the Pattern
The trend is not new. In the Community Shield defeat, Arsenal took the lead in the opening minute. After that match, Maresca reflected on the early setback.
"I think a big part of the game was in the first goal we conceded," he said. "Unfortunately after 30 seconds we conceded the first one. I think the reaction was good, before they scored the second goal we had three or four chances to score and to draw the game."
"Unfortunately we missed the chances and then after the second goal it became more difficult. In general I'm always concerned, even when we win games so imagine how that [when] we didn't win the game."
City Need to Tighten Up Early
What will worry Maresca is that City are failing to learn their lesson. These early goals are setting the tone for matches and have seen the Blues come up empty-handed in their last two Premier League games.
Maresca is only four months into the job, but City need to start switching on at the start of matches before this becomes something more serious. If they want to be picking up trophies this season, they need to be tighter in the opening 15 minutes.
