With the best form in the league, Manchester City looked set to once again pick up another three points whilst showcasing their bullet-proof defence, welcoming the league's most unlucky side, Brighton, to the Etihad, with manager Graham Potter under increasing pressure.
The Action: Playing without a striker once again, it was left up to Kevin De Bruyne to try and get his side ahead, but despite repeatedly being on the end of some superb moves, his shots all ended up straight at Brighton keeper Robert Sanchez. But just before half time, De Bruyne reverted to his usual role, supplying Phil Foden who dinked into the Brighton box and tucked the ball home to become City's top scorer this season.
Manchester City's midfielders took turns to double the lead, but lacked any form of clinical finishing, however, their excellent new-look defence led by centre back pairing of Ruben Dias and John Stones limited Brighton to just a single shot on target. City had a chance to make it 2-0 in stoppage time when an otherwise excellent Sanchez took down De Bruyne for a penalty, but Raheem Sterling worryingly blasted the ball well over the bar.
The Big Picture: City have been emerging as many's new title favourites after piecing together what looks like the league's best defence, but without Sergio Aguero and Sterling, there's a worrying lack of goals. As for Brighton, the numbers show they've been incredibly unlucky in the first half of the season, but without the goals they should have scored, they could soon drop into the relegation zone.
Memorable Moment: Sterling's penalty could have lifted the mood ahead of an incredibly winnable run of fixtures for Manchester City, but his skied effort may raise more legitimate concerns their goalscoring isn't what it used to be.
Man of the Match: De Bruyne may have been the attacking powerhouse on the pitch tonight, but Foden did what his teammate couldn't and gets the nod for showing such sublime class for his winner.
xG: Man City (2.60) 1-0 (0.26) Brighton
Stat of the Day: Since Ruben Dias and John Stones' first league game together on November 28th, City have conceded fewer goals than any team in Europe's top 5 leagues, letting in just two in that time.
1-0 | ||
Phil Foden 44' |
