Haaland’s double helps Manchester City beat Brighton and rehabilitates themselves for their defeat to Liverpool with a 3-1 home win over Brighton.
Josep Guardiola reacts to the defeat to Liverpool by withdrawing Nathan Ake, Ilkay Gündogan and Phil Foden from the starting line-up. They are replaced by Aymeric Laporte, Jack Grealish and Riyad Mahrez.
The Seagulls‘ starting line-up, on the other hand, is unchanged from the draw against Nottingham Forest.
The SkyBlues start the match rather relaxed, tightening the noose around their opponents’ necks gradually.
The first dangerous moment is Haaland’s fall in the opponents’ penalty area in the 20th minute. Erling crosses the ball and gets caught on the leg of the goalkeeper. The referee sees no reason to award a penalty.
However, a couple of minutes later, the hosts do open the scoring. Ederson put the ball into play with a long pass down the middle and Haaland skips past the goalkeeper, pushing the defender aside and into the empty net to make it 1-0.
Later on, City, of course, have the initiative, but also give Brighton a chance to play. The visitors hold on to the ball well, but can’t get Ederson involved.
And the end of the first half is marked by a penalty for a foul on Bernardo Silva in someone else’s penalty box. Haaland cannonballs the ball into the net from the 11-metre mark to make it 2-0.
The second half starts with the Seagulls getting one goal back. Leandro Trossard shoots from the edge of the penalty area into the near corner of the goal to make it 2-1.
Trossard’s goal makes Brighton believe in themselves. The visitors try to keep their wits about them despite City’s persistent attempts to regain a comfortable lead.
The culmination comes on 75 minutes when Kevin de Bruyne plants a superb strike from outside the box to make it 3-1. Soon the game begins to fade, with nothing of any interest happening.
Brighton has their chances and holds the ball well, but City’s class proves to be far superior and this is reflected in the final score.