Manchester City loses a fourth straight game, and seems to be falling apart

Manchester City lost its fourth straight game, 2-1 at Brighton, on Saturday, which fed growing speculation that this, finally, could be the end.

The four-time reigning Premier League champs went ahead, but then collapsed, and could fall five points behind Liverpool at the top of the EPL table.

They conceded two goals in six minutes to Brighton, during a 25-minute stretch in which they didn’t take a single shot. And they looked a far cry from the team that has, for most of the past seven years, ruled English soccer.

The four losses — to Tottenham in the League Cup, to Bournemouth in the Premier League, to Sporting CP in the Champions League, and now to Brighton — equal City’s total from the entirety of last season. And this season, of course, is not even three months old.

They also mark the first time that Pep Guardiola has ever lost four consecutive games in his managerial career.

City had not lost four straight games since 2006.

A spate of injuries has contributed to City’s sudden decline. Once Kevin de Bruyne and Ruben Dias, Jeremy Doku and Jack Grealish, John Stones and others get fit, City will be better. They also struggled with injuries last season, and lost to Aston Villa in December … then didn’t lose the rest of the season, until the FA Cup final, after they’d already lifted the EPL trophy.

But the most significant injury, to Rodri, won’t heal until next season.

And by then, the Premier League’s 100-plus charges for breaching financial rules could bring consequences much more extreme than a potential second-place finish.