Manager Pep Guardiola admitted injury-hit Manchester City are struggling to compete for 90 minutes after Brighton's stunning 2-1 victory saw the Spaniard suffer his fourth successive defeat - a first in his managerial career.
City had previously lost to Tottenham in the League Cup, Bournemouth in the league, and then suffered a 4-1 thrashing by Sporting in the Champions League on Tuesday that had Bernardo Silva saying City are in a "dark place".
Erling Haaland scored in the 23rd minute and had a couple of narrow misses in a first half where City had five shots on target.
But the Premier League champions collapsed in the closing stages as Joao Pedro equalised before Matt O'Riley bagged Brighton's winner seven minutes from full-time.
For the first time in his glittering career as a manager, Guardiola has been beaten four times in a row.
"Today we played really good in the first half but we couldn't finish the game," Guardiola said.
"We were not consistent to maintain our game and our intensity and press and be aggressive for 90 minutes. The level we are playing is really good in certain moments but we are not able to continue for a long time.
"I'm pretty sure when the players come back (after the international break) and we make some individual qualities in the team, we will be back."
City have been rocked by injuries with Nathan Ake, John Stones, Jack Grealish and Ruben Dias all sidelined on Saturday, alongside longer-term absentees Rodri and Oscar Bobb.
After their 32-game unbeaten league run was ended by Bournemouth a week ago, it was another case of City not having the players available to get over the line.
Manuel Akanji and Ake were fit enough only for the bench while Dias and John Stones were not in the squad, meaning 19-year-old Jahmai Simpson-Pusey was given a first league start in central defence.
The makeshift backline came under pressure in the second half from Brighton that proved intolerable, Pedro levelling after a penalty area scramble then summer signing O'Riley capped just his second Seagulls appearance with a dramatic winner.
"It can always happen one time in a lifetime, right?" said Guardiola of his unprecedented fourth straight defeat. "Always there's a first time. We've lost two games in the Premier League and we have to change it, get back to winning. We're in the position that we are in the table.
"When the players come back I don't have any doubt that we will be back to our best.
"Normally people lose games, right? Always there's a first time in life. This is my challenge, our challenge, and I like to face it. I will not step back at all. More than ever I want to do it. We will try again."
Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler reflected on a fairy tale moment for his goalscoring substitutes as they made comebacks from periods out injured.
"I'm happy for Joao and Matt that they came back after a long time with this impact, they worked hard in rehab, they didn't have an easy time," he said.
"In life you get what you deserve, what you work for. Matt is a player with a positive mindset during injury, after surgery he came to the training ground and showed his personality."
Liverpool surge ahead
Liverpool opened up a five-point lead at the top of the Premier League as Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah struck in a 2-0 win over Aston Villa.
The Reds took full advantage of Manchester City's latest defeat at Brighton to surge further clear of the champions.
The Reds failed to hit the heights of their second-half humiliation of German champions Bayer Leverkusen in a 4-0 Champions League win in midweek.
But Arne Slot's team were again defensively solid to protect a sixth clean sheet in 11 league games and take a firm grip on the title race.
"We have a margin but it is small. Many challenges to come for us," said Slot.
Liverpool's stunning start to life under Slot has made light of Jurgen Klopp's departure and midfielder Alexis Mac Allister conceded even he was not sure if the Reds could challenge for the title.
"If we are top of the league by five points then it means something," said the Argentine international.
"If you asked me before the season started I would not say we were candidates but now it looks like we are."
Match info
Manchester United 1 (Van de Beek 80') Crystal Palace 3 (Townsend 7', Zaha pen 74' & 85')
Man of the match Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace)
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Baby Driver
Director: Edgar Wright
Starring: Ansel Elgort, Kevin Spacey, Jamie Foxx, Lily James
Three and a half stars
The Details
Kabir Singh
Produced by: Cinestaan Studios, T-Series
Directed by: Sandeep Reddy Vanga
Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Kiara Advani, Suresh Oberoi, Soham Majumdar, Arjun Pahwa
Rating: 2.5/5
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Barcelona v Liverpool, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE).
Second leg
Liverpool v Barcelona, Tuesday, May 7, 11pm
Games on BeIN Sports
Three-day coronation
Royal purification
The entire coronation ceremony extends over three days from May 4-6, but Saturday is the one to watch. At the time of 10:09am the royal purification ceremony begins. Wearing a white robe, the king will enter a pavilion at the Grand Palace, where he will be doused in sacred water from five rivers and four ponds in Thailand. In the distant past water was collected from specific rivers in India, reflecting the influential blend of Hindu and Buddhist cosmology on the coronation. Hindu Brahmins and the country's most senior Buddhist monks will be present. Coronation practices can be traced back thousands of years to ancient India.
The crown
Not long after royal purification rites, the king proceeds to the Baisal Daksin Throne Hall where he receives sacred water from eight directions. Symbolically that means he has received legitimacy from all directions of the kingdom. He ascends the Bhadrapitha Throne, where in regal robes he sits under a Nine-Tiered Umbrella of State. Brahmins will hand the monarch the royal regalia, including a wooden sceptre inlaid with gold, a precious stone-encrusted sword believed to have been found in a lake in northern Cambodia, slippers, and a whisk made from yak's hair.
The Great Crown of Victory is the centrepiece. Tiered, gold and weighing 7.3 kilograms, it has a diamond from India at the top. Vajiralongkorn will personally place the crown on his own head and then issues his first royal command.
The audience
On Saturday afternoon, the newly-crowned king is set to grant a "grand audience" to members of the royal family, the privy council, the cabinet and senior officials. Two hours later the king will visit the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the most sacred space in Thailand, which on normal days is thronged with tourists. He then symbolically moves into the Royal Residence.
The procession
The main element of Sunday's ceremonies, streets across Bangkok's historic heart have been blocked off in preparation for this moment. The king will sit on a royal palanquin carried by soldiers dressed in colourful traditional garb. A 21-gun salute will start the procession. Some 200,000 people are expected to line the seven-kilometre route around the city.
Meet the people
On the last day of the ceremony Rama X will appear on the balcony of Suddhaisavarya Prasad Hall in the Grand Palace at 4:30pm "to receive the good wishes of the people". An hour later, diplomats will be given an audience at the Grand Palace. This is the only time during the ceremony that representatives of foreign governments will greet the king.
The Beach Bum
Director: Harmony Korine
Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Isla Fisher, Snoop Dogg
Two stars
The Intruder
Director: Deon Taylor
Starring: Dennis Quaid, Michael Ealy, Meagan Good
One star
Coffee: black death or elixir of life?
It is among the greatest health debates of our time; splashed across newspapers with contradicting headlines - is coffee good for you or not?
Depending on what you read, it is either a cancer-causing, sleep-depriving, stomach ulcer-inducing black death or the secret to long life, cutting the chance of stroke, diabetes and cancer.
The latest research - a study of 8,412 people across the UK who each underwent an MRI heart scan - is intended to put to bed (caffeine allowing) conflicting reports of the pros and cons of consumption.
The study, funded by the British Heart Foundation, contradicted previous findings that it stiffens arteries, putting pressure on the heart and increasing the likelihood of a heart attack or stroke, leading to warnings to cut down.
Numerous studies have recognised the benefits of coffee in cutting oral and esophageal cancer, the risk of a stroke and cirrhosis of the liver.
The benefits are often linked to biologically active compounds including caffeine, flavonoids, lignans, and other polyphenols, which benefit the body. These and othetr coffee compounds regulate genes involved in DNA repair, have anti-inflammatory properties and are associated with lower risk of insulin resistance, which is linked to type-2 diabetes.
But as doctors warn, too much of anything is inadvisable. The British Heart Foundation found the heaviest coffee drinkers in the study were most likely to be men who smoked and drank alcohol regularly.
Excessive amounts of coffee also unsettle the stomach causing or contributing to stomach ulcers. It also stains the teeth over time, hampers absorption of minerals and vitamins like zinc and iron.
It also raises blood pressure, which is largely problematic for people with existing conditions.
So the heaviest drinkers of the black stuff - some in the study had up to 25 cups per day - may want to rein it in.
Rory Reynolds
LA LIGA FIXTURES
Friday Celta Vigo v Villarreal (midnight kick-off UAE)
Saturday Sevilla v Real Sociedad (4pm), Atletico Madrid v Athletic Bilbao (7.15pm), Granada v Barcelona (9.30pm), Osasuna v Real Madrid (midnight)
Sunday Levante v Eibar (4pm), Cadiz v Alaves (7.15pm), Elche v Getafe (9.30pm), Real Valladolid v Valencia (midnight)
Monday Huesca v Real Betis (midnight)
