Trailing 2-0 at the break to the Premier League leaders, Ansu Fati pulled one back but City held on for a 2-1 win at the Etihad.
Reflecting on the game, Albion’s German midfielder admitted the second-half display was a big improvement.
“In the first half we lost a lot of possession and couldn’t press them like we know we can,” he said. “You have to get it in your head that if you don’t keep the ball well enough you are going to suffer.
“It’s hard to regain it against City and we conceded two goals again. We concede too many, we know that. We’re working hard to keep clean sheets because we know we have to do that to be successful.
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“The second half was the opposite and you saw the real Brighton. The manager said we needed to be braver and show our style and in the second half we did that. We put more pressure on them and after we got it to 2-1 we had moments to score the equaliser.
“So there are positives for us. We have Ajax on Thursday [in the Europa League] and Fulham in the league after that and they are really big games for us at the Amex.”
As well as dropping points, Albion also lost Danny Welbeck and Solly Match to injuries. “That made it a difficult day for us, losing Solly and Danny who are important players was not great," added Gross.