Money may be at the root of the existential problem facing Manchester City but this was a different kind of advertisement for spending less. As Enzo Maresca began with his £326m midfield trio for the first time, the winner came from a midfielder.

But not Enzo Fernandez , Elliot Anderson or Ayyoub Bouaddi , perhaps the most expensive triumvirate ever assembled in their position . Yasin Ayari cost Brighton and Hove Albion a mere £3.5m.

The Swede has long since joined the list of bargains unearthed by Albion. As part of a £25m midfield trio, their combined price about one-fifth of Fernandez’s record-equalling fee, he flourished. City’s second consecutive league defeat was Brighton’s second win in Manchester already this season, but the first at the Etihad Stadium in their history.

Brighton have unearthed another gem in Sweden international Yasin Ayari, the match-winner (Reuters)

The watching City chairman Khaldoon Al-Mubarak may have reflected there is a different way of financing a squad.…