BRIGHTON, England – Phil Foden, a Manchester City player, led a brilliant first half in a 4-1 victory at Brighton in Saturday’s Premier League match.
After Ilkay Gundogan’s opening goal at Amex Stadium, the defending champions were invincible. Phil Foden scored the winning goal in the 31st and 28th minutes.
After the break, Brighton performed much better and was able to score a consolation goal through an Alexis Mac Allister penalty. Riyad Mahrez, however, was the last to score, taking a Foden pass and scoring in the fifth minute of the stoppage for City.
City was two points behind league leader Chelsea.
Raheem Sterling had scored a hat-trick at Brighton two years ago, but his City future was uncertain, so he wasn’t involved. Pep Guardiola stated that he didn’t have enough fitness.
City’s players wore shirts that read “We’re With You Guido” in support of Guido De Pauw (Belgian supporter), who was on his way back from Tuesday’s 5-1 victory over Club Brugge at the Champions League.
As the teams arrived ahead of kickoff, the traveling fans unfurled a banner bearing the same slogan.
Joao Cancelo was sent off after 10 minutes of this fixture last year. Robert Sanchez made a great save, having received a pass from Jack Grealish. He had a lively start.
Moments later, Gabriel Jesus was within inches of scoring the opening goal. However, his attempt was quickly discarded by Lewis Dunk, Brighton’s skipper.
City scored their first goal when Sanchez, under pressure from Jesus, dropped the ball and Bernardo Silva hooked it to Gundogan. Gundogan finished with an empty net.
After a quick VAR check for Sanchez’s foul, the goal was declared valid. It was a reward for a dominating start.
Before the half-hour mark, the lead had been doubled. Bernardo launched a quick counterattack and fed Grealish. Foden, an England teammate, turned Grealish’s pass across the face of England home.
Soon after, it was 3-0 as Grealish’s shot was blocked in the direction of Jesus. Jesus’ own strike was unwittingly deflected off Foden’s heel and past Sanchez.
Brighton nearly pulled one back just before the half-time break when Ederson allowed Solly March’s shot to slip through his grasp before he recovered in time to stop a calamitous goal.
City performed admirably in the first period, but the visitors couldn’t continue their dominance, as they did not succeed in beating Norwich 7-0 earlier Saturday.
Ederson was also having a similar experience in the second half. He had to recuperate from a slip from Pascal Gross’ shot to keep Neal Maupay from getting the ball.
Next was Leandro Trossard, who tested Ederson. He was the busier goalkeeper after the interval.
Guardiola brought on Fernandinho to replace Gundogan in the 17th minute, but Brighton won the game as Brighton manager Prowled the Touchline, annoyed with many of his players.
Referee Kevin Friend pointed out the spot nine minutes after Ederson fouled Enock Mwepu. Mac Allister, a substitute, made no mistakes from the resulting penalty before Mahrez completed City’s display.
