Erling Haaland on target as 10-man Manchester City edge past Brighton

Since Manchester City’s FA Cup third round victory over Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium in January a lot has happened. That was the start of a record-breaking run that helped Pep Guardiola’s team win a historic treble. Such triumphs can make it a struggle to find the motivation to keep improving but a 21st straight home victory in all competitions over Brighton to surpass Manchester United’s run of 20 more than a decade ago shows how high the standards are under Guardiola.

As well as finding new methods of inspiring his team, a summer refresh of the squad has brought a new dynamic to City. One of those arrivals, Jérémy Doku was key to their attacking prowess against Brighton. Whenever the winger received the ball, there was a brief hush as fans awaited where his dribbles would end up, the general answer being past James Milner, as the veteran was reminded of his 37 years and the fact he is not a full-back by trade, causing Roberto De Zerbi to do the kindest thing by removing him at half time, with the Seagulls behind thanks to goals from Julián Álvarez and Erling Haaland.

Rodri returned to City’s midfield after a three-match domestic suspension. It was not a coincidence that City lost each of those fixtures as no one can replicate the role the Spain midfielder plays for Guardiola. The most notable change in the City team, however, was the selection of Stefan Ortega for his first Premier League outing of the season in place of Ederson after a week of travel and matches in South America for Brazil.

De Zerbi is one of the names tipped to replace Guardiola when he eventually departs. His tactical acumen and eagerness to attack are key reasons behind his Brighton success. In the early stages the Seagulls went man-to-man with the City back four, as they looked to target a perceived weakness in the home side’s defence.

Few teams that go toe-to-toe with City at the Etihad Stadium come out of it well and Brighton were behind in the seventh minute. Doku’s pace was too much for Pascal Gross on the left wing, allowing him to reach the byline and pick out Álvarez who took aim with his left foot but miscued it, not that it mattered as the ball flew in off his right in-step for his 17th home goal in as many starts.

City’s leading man made an impact when Carlos Baleba gifted the ball to Haaland 20 yards from goal. The Norwegian was isolated but that is not a concern for someone as lethal as him. He drove for the edge of the box and viciously sent his shot into the bottom corner with the sort of power the recently departed City legend Franny Lee would have been proud of, to ensure his goal drought did not run to a fourth game.

The quality available at Brighton is undeniable and they became more dangerous as the game went on. Kaoru Mitoma forced Ortega into his first notable save of the match in the 69th minute after latching onto a clever Ansu Fati pass over the top but the goalkeeper was alert to the danger and closed the angle before eventually blocking the shot. Soon after Mitoma should have headed a corner home at the far post but nodded into the side-netting instead.

It was a very open game as City looked to end the match as a contest and Brighton to find hope. One second Lewis Dunk was clearing an Álvarez shot off the line with Jason Steele out of his goal and within moments, Brighton countered, with Mitoma causing the problems down the left and Fati capitalising on a poor Manuel Akanji clearance to finish but they could not find an equaliser.

In addition to completing a 14th away league match against City without a win, Brighton suffered the late blow of Solly March suffering a serious injury, leaving him in distress before being stretchered off.

For City, who saw out the match with 10 men after Akanji received a second booking late on, this win will add a new paragraph to the record books but, more importantly for Guardiola, it got them back to winning ways after two straight defeats.