ManCity thrashes Brighton but leaves questions with their play.
Poor play in the second half did not prevent Manchester City from beating Brighton 1-4 away.
In relation to the goalless game against Norwich, there was only one change in the Seagulls‘ starting line-up. Shane Duffy was replaced by Solly March.
Ilkay Gündogan and Gabriel Jesus returned to the starting line-up compared to their midweek trip to Brugge, replacing Kevin De Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez.
The first dangerous moment arose in the seventh minute when Joao Cancelo fired a long-range shot over the hosts’ goalkeeper Robert Sanchez.
On 11 minutes, Brighton narrowly missed a goal. Lewis Dunk struck a cross from the very goal line after a Jesus strike and a ricochet from Sanchez.
Two minutes later, the goal did come. Sanchez let the ball slip from his hands after a wrestle in the air with Jesus, Bernardo Silva shot it past himself and Gundogan planted it into the net to make it 0-1.
The Seagulls dared to play open football against City instead of getting frustrated. The Citizens began to regularly create opportunities for quick attacks, which led to their second goal.
On 28 minutes, Jack Grealish ran onto a breakthrough, got to the edge of the penalty area and made a pass to Phil Foden, who was on the parallel path, who beat his defender for a moment and slotted the ball into the net — 0–2.
Three minutes later, the score was decided. Sanchez kept out Grealish, but was powerless against Jesus’ equaliser to make it 0–3.
Even with a three-goal lead, the hosts were still true to themselves, but there was almost no output from their attacking play.
In the second half, the game changed. Brighton still had a large number of attacking players, but this time it was dangerous, largely because City had slowed down and began to play the second number.
The Seagulls pressed and were eventually rewarded for their efforts. Ederson brought down Enock Mwepu and got a penalty in his own goal. Alexis Mac Allister stepped up to the ball and slotted it over the goalkeeper’s hands to make it 1–3.
But that was all the home side got. In the end, the visitors stepped up, regained control of the ball and dried up the game. In the end of stoppage time, Riyad Mahrez freely received the ball in the penalty area and made the final score 1–4 as ManCity thrashes Brighton.