Yasin Ayari’s 11th-minute strike on Saturday was enough to beat City 1-0 at the Etihad Stadium. Haaland has 13 goals across all competitions this season, but against Brighton he was kept quiet, and City had no one else to lean on.

It cost them top spot in the Premier League. Arsenal lead the table on 24 points after nine matches; City sit second on 21, with Brighton close behind on 19, according to the published standings.

Haaland doing most of the work

The scoring split tells its own story. Haaland has 13 across all competitions. The next name on City’s list is Rayan Cherki with six, and Phil Foden has four in eight starts from 11 appearances, as outlined ahead of the Leipzig trip.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference, Maresca was blunt about the balance.

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“At the same time, we cannot rely on Erling for every game. We need also the rest to score goals.”

He pointed out the obvious consolation, that the Brighton result was an anomaly on City’s attacking record this season.

“The last game against Brighton was the only game of the season where we didn’t score.”

Second defeat in a row

The warning carries more weight because it is not an isolated setback. City had lost 2-1 at Aston Villa the previous weekend, with Haaland scoring, so Brighton made it two straight Premier League defeats. Reporting at the press conference, ESPN noted Maresca’s call for City to “help Haaland with goals” after the back-to-back losses, framing it as the central problem for his squad right now.

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Maresca took over at the Etihad on 29 June 2026, signing a three-year deal, and the early-season form had City top of the league. Two weekends have changed the conversation.

Leipzig at home for Haaland

City travel to Leipzig on Wednesday night in the Champions League, and if Maresca wants his other forwards to carry some of the load, this is not necessarily the fixture for it. Haaland has six Champions League goals against RB Leipzig, joint-most against any opponent in the competition, tied with his tally against Sevilla. Five of those came in a single 7-0 City win in March 2023.

After Leipzig, City are away to Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Saturday.

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