Maresca's honeymoon at City is over: 'He must find solutions'

Manchester City's perfect start under Maresca has ended with losses to Aston Villa and Brighton; defensive vulnerabilities are now exposed.

Enzo Maresca's honeymoon period at Manchester City is over. After winning his first seven Premier League matches, City have now suffered defeats to Aston Villa and Brighton, with the home loss to Brighton particularly concerning.

British media outlets are pointing to defensive frailties as the root cause. The Athletic notes that City have conceded ten goals in nine matches—more than Brentford and Leeds United, and level with newly promoted Hull City and Tottenham Hotspur. Individual errors have been compounding: Marc Guéhi was left out of the Brighton squad, Gianluigi Donnarumma made mistakes at Villa Park, and Matheus Nunes was culpable against Brighton.

Maresca acknowledged the problem without naming individuals, criticizing the "silly" goals City conceded. "Mistakes happen," he said. "Unfortunately it happened to our players today. We are the second-highest scoring team in the Premier League, but we're conceding silly goals. We can prevent that." City have kept just one clean sheet in their last eight matches, a record the manager admitted falls short of standards.