Mistakes are costing City dear as top four sliding out of view

NOT for the first time this season, Fabian Delph came to mind.

- By SIMON BAJKOWSKI

As well as being a useful option for a time in Pep Guardiola's all-conquering side, the former England midfielder infamously called out his team-mates for not doing the basics.

It sounds better to imagine it spoken in Delph's West Yorkshire drawl, but it gets to the heart of what is required at Manchester City.

For all the manager's reputation for intricate football, really he wants all of his players to do the basics to a The lift worked, and after dogged tack level that Jake Humphrey would approve of.

Too many games this season have been defined by individual or collective mistakes that have undermined the pernformance.

Saturday's 2-2 draw with Brighton is in a good company.

Brighton won the reverse fixture when City's slump was just starting to take hold and came into this game in terrific form and just a point off the Blues with the longest winning run in the league, so they were not to be underestimated.

The pressure they put City under in the opening minutes and how close they came to scoring when Kaoru Mitoma had a goal disallowed for a perceived foul backed that up.