Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City inch closer to the English Premier League(EPL) title after defeating Brighton FC by 4-0 at their home ground American Express Stadium today.
Repetitive goals from De Bruyne, Phil Foden, and Julian Alvaraz made sure that Manchester City stayed in the race and right behind Arsenal who recently defeated their arch-rivals Chelsea by 5-0 at their home ground Emirates Stadium.
Just Another Brilliant Attacking Display By Manchester City
The match started in a surprising way at the American Express Stadium when the Brighton players kept the ball in their way for 17 minutes with their brilliant passing displays and also some great reflexes from the 33-year old Brighton FC goalkeeper Jason Steele.
The Brighton FC players adopted a player-to-player marking system and they were doing it dazzlingly it was also a treat to watch them go against the reigning champions Manchester City.
But all that failed when the Belgian maestro midfielder Kevin De Bruyne opened the goal for the Citizens in the 17th minute with a flying header that went into the right corner after a brilliant cross by the English defender Kyle Walker.
However, Brighton FC tried to level it back after Joao Pedro got a corner and found his teammate Lewis Dunk who got the header but the ball went directly into the hands of Man City’s Brazilian goalkeeper Ederson.
But the Citizens attacking display did not stop as they took another advantage of the the Seagulls and charged down to the hosts goalline but was stopped in the midway by the Brighton players.
The second goal came in the 26th minute after Phil Foden was fouled and was given a free-kick since the foul was executed outside the penalty box and Foden delivered a magical free-kick as the ball touched a Brighton player and went straight into the host net making it 2-0.
But it was the night for the 23-year-old Phil Foden who scored another goal in the 34th minute with a well-placed shot that landed straight into the left corner of the hosts’ nets making it 3-0.
However, the hopes for a comeback all ended for the Seagulls in the second half after the Argentinian Julian Alvarez simply tapped the ball into the net after the chance was missed by Kyle Walker making it 4-0.
The hosts felt angry about the situation as the number of penalties were turned down by the referee but Robert De Zerbi’s side played better in the situation as they avoided and defended against Man City to make it a big scoreline.
Manchester City Are Right Behind The Gunners
It was just another slick and competent display by the Citizens who gave is giving a great challenge to the Gunners and also trying to seize the EPL trophy like last season.
With this win, Manchester City are unbeaten in 18 Premier League matches and they are also scoring at a rapid pace which reduces Arsenal’s goal difference advantage.
However, the Citizens is still required to score eight goals to overcome the difference but with this kind of red-hot form, they are still the favorites to win and retain the English Premier League(EPL) trophy.
Phil Foden continues his Dominant Form
IIt is no surprise that Phil Foden has become the backbone for Manchester City which was once occupied by the Belgian maestro Kevin De Bruyne. His performance against Brighton in the first half was pure excellence with his superb dribbling skills and brilliant vision into the host’s net put Man City in the Premier League race with Arsenal.
Foden had the luck to score the first goal from the free-kick after the ball had a little deflection from a Brighton player and landed straight into the goal but his second goal was just pure brilliance and brutally slick which landed straight into the bottom corner of the hosts net within the blink of an eye.
Phil Foden gave his statement after the match which stated that ‘With Kev’s first goal and a bit lucky with my second goal, it settled us a little bit and we grew into the game, in the first half was frightening with the way we attacked.’
Thus, he became the third player under the guidance of Pep Guardiola to score 50 goals under the age of 23 along with Lionel Messi and Erling Haaland.
