PEP’S WARNING

BOSS SAYS BLUES MUST ACCEPT ROTATION

HARDLY the big bold, Barcelona-style statement that City wanted to make in the south coast sunshine.

But the Blues’ campaign is off and running with three points, Sergio Aguero is up and running, and the defence picked up a simple clean sheet.

It was very much a case of Premier League new boys Brighton successfully dragging City back down to their level with a dogged, stubborn resistance against a team that had a staggering 78 per cent of the possession.

But the Blues cannot accept that as an excuse. Until Aguero finally broke the deadlock – and the hearts of the boisterous home fans, just as their hopes were mounting – they were lacking.

There were not enough ideas, not enough fast, accurate passing and by playing overwhelmingly right-footed Danilo on the left, there was no great balance.

That meant Brighton were happy to allow the former Real Madrid man to advance down that flank, as he invariably carved back inside and killed the threat. By contrast, Kyle Walker was a constant menace on the other side, sprinting for the by-line and creating havoc in his wake. Once Benjamin Mendy is fit, the idea will be to have that kind of menace on both sides. But Kevin de Bruyne and David Silva were misfiring for 70 minutes, unusually wasteful, alarmingly lacking in the kind of focus that has made them the scourge of Premier League defences. And with Aguero slicing one great chance wide, while his strike partner Gabriel Jesus headed another glorious opportunity straight at keeper Mathew Ryan, Pep Guardiola was being haunted by the ghosts of last season. His defence was not tested, but he constantly bemoaned the missing of chances last season. And so it continued, until the 70th minute. That was when it suddenly all snapped into place. De Bruyne robbed a dilatory defender on halfway and swiftly swept a pass to Silva, advancing on the box. He slid his pass perfectly for Aguero this time, and the Argentine lifted his shot over the diving keeper.

The result was confirmed when City, still probing at a massed defence, found Fernandinho overlapping and he whipped in a cross aimed at Jesus.

The Brazilian could not get to it, but his presence worried defender Lewis Dunk into heading past his own keeper for 2-0.

City closed out the game by continuing to press, giving Bernardo Silva a debut – there will be much stiffer tests ahead, especially for that back three. But three points away against a team determined to make a stand in its first top-flight game for 32 years, is not to be sniffed at.

Until Aguero broke the deadlock – and the hearts of the home fans – they were lacking Stuart Brennan