The defending champion did not encounter too many difficulties during Brighton’s away trip and easily won 4-0. The first goal belonged to Phil Foden with a double and participating in De Bruyne’s opening goal.
Final result Brighton vs Man City (0-4)
Scorer: De Bruyne 17′; Phil Foden 26′, 34′; Julian Alvarez 62′
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Compared to the 1-0 win over Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-finals last weekend, Man City’s starting list against Brighton has a few differences, but the name Erling Haaland continues to be absent. Goalkeeper Ederson returned to goal after a period of recovery, Gvardiol appeared in defense and Kovacic appeared in the midfield next to Rodri. Only the attack is undisturbed as Alvarez is still placed in the slot with the help of Foden – De Bruyne – Bernando Silva
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Man City did not rush into the game as usual, but played in a tentative manner. Therefore, the first few minutes passed quite smoothly because Brighton did not dare to stand up and play fairly.
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But then, only in the 17th minute, Man City found the opening goal right in the first dangerous situation they created. Foden pulled the ball to the right wing then poked the ball for Kyle Walker to throw a cross out and Kevin De Bruyne rushed to make a rare header that hit Brighton’s net. The reason for using the word “rare” is because De Bruyne has not previously scored a goal with his head for Man City in the Premier League.
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With a leading goal, everything becomes simpler for Man City and increasing the gap is probably just a matter of time. Indeed, in the 26th minute, the defending champion had a second goal. Foden was pulled down by Dunk right in front of the 16m50 line and the English star himself took the free kick. The ball hit Gross’s back and changed direction, causing goalkeeper Steele to give up. .
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By the 34th minute, the score increased to 3-0 and the scorer was still Phil Foden. Despite being fiercely surrounded by Man City players right in the home team’s penalty area, Brighton’s defense still continued to develop the ball to escape pressing as usual, but then the error came from young defender Barco, thereby giving them away. Foden had a chance to score and the 2000-born midfielder did not refuse with an accurate left-footed curling shot towards the far corner.
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The 3-goal advantage helped Man City completely comfortably enter the second half and leisurely deal with the home team’s plan to push the team up to attack in order to regain the game. Brighton also has some chances but they are not significant.
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In the 62nd minute, defending champion Man City scored the fourth goal. Starting from Ederson’s strong goal kick, Kyle Walker accelerated to catch the ball to enter the penalty area and tried to push the ball out to Alvarez when there was no way to finish. point. Thanks to that, the Argentine striker had no difficulty getting his name on the electronic board.
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Brighton did everything they could, including earning 11 points to regain some honor, but all failed.
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In the end, Man City won 4-0 to maintain pressure on top team Arsenal with 1 point less but still a match in hand. Thus, the right to self-determine the championship title is still in the hands of coach Pep Guardiola and his team.
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