MAN CITY 0-1 BRIGHTON: Enzo Maresca watched his side lose a Premier League game for the second consecutive weekend with more questions being asked of his goalkeeper

It felt quite ironic Gianluigi Donnarumma was dressed in the colours of a pumpkin.

Because at the moment, he is nowhere near the smashing variety. The Italian goalkeeper isn't quite cutting it.

When a manager like Enzo Maresca is forced to defend his keeper, it's never a great place to be. But it's an even worse one when he sings his praises, then sees his No.1 do little to deserve such support.

In the build up to this clash with Brighton, Maresca confirmed his team would be 'Gigio plus 10'.

"There is no player who is undroppable, but there is a moment where it is Gigio plus 10, because in this moment I see it like this," said Maresca. In other words, Donnarumma IS undroppable.

Make sure you don't miss sport's biggest stories and breaking news by making the Daily Mirror one of your Google preferred sources.

Which would be all well and good, if Donnarumma was in the form of his life. But he hasn't been close.

Instead, Donnarumma has frightened that same life out of those team-mates around him. He has been to blame for a number of goals Manchester City have conceded in recent weeks. One of these contributed to his side losing to Aston Villa, and blowing what had been the perfect start to the new season.

The 27-year-old became Pep Guardiuola's 'Prima Donna' when he left Paris Saint Germain to join City in the summer of 2025. Just a few weeks earlier Guardiola had decided to activate the buy-back clause which allowed his club to re-sign James Trafford from Burnley.

It's doubtful Trafford had the first clue that he would go on to spend most of that season sat on the bench twiddling his thumbs.

It's been said that Trafford was seething, and wouldn't have contemplated returning to the Etihad had he known he would be second fiddle to Donnarumma. But Trafford bided his time until the following summer, then jumped at the chance to join Leeds United.

He knew that even though Guardiola was leaving, there was little or no chance of Maresca going against the decision of his predecessor that Donnarumma was undisputed first choice.

Since then, Trafford has gone on to thrive at Elland Road. Most people consider him to be the natural successor to Jordan Pickford in the England team.

Donnarumma, meanwhile, has gone backwards. He resembles a keeper lacking the confidence of old.

That ability to lead from the back. He remains an impressive shot stopper, as he proved when keeping out a header from Yasin Ayari in the second half.

By which time his side were a goal down and chasing the game. His positioning and footwork have been found wanting at times this season.

And Brighton's opening goal was a perfect example of how Donnarumma has appeared slow to react to the clear and present danger right in front of him.

The breakthrough came from a sharp diagonal ball from the excellent Lewis Dunk to Diego Gomez wide on the right. When Gomez sent in a superb cross, Donnarumma remained rooted to the spot like his feet were treading in treacle.

The ball fell to Ayari and Donnarumma was powerless and helpless to stop him making it 1-0 to the visitors. What Geronimo Rulli made of it from the sidelines doesn't bear thinking about.

In midweek Rulli replaced the 'rested' Donnarumma, and made the most of his rare outing to become the star of the show. His two spot kick saves dumped Brighton out of the Carabao Cup.

Which appeared to achieve little more than making Fabian Hurzeler's side hell bent on gaining revenge here. And Donnarumma seemed to be in the mood to help them achieve their goal.

Giving a hospital pass to Elliot Anderson left some of his team-mates and supporters almost wincing. Donnarumma has now conceded 13 goals in his last seven games in all competitions.

Suggesting Maresca's decision to drop Marc Guehi isn't the solution to a problem which lies elsewhere.