Brighton vs Manchester City a few quick thoughts
Dan Tracey
August 13, 2017
1,671 Views
- Brighton may well have been celebrating their first top flight appearance since 1983 before kick off
- But unfortunately the party was bought to an abrupt end by Manchester City
- Pep Guardiola bought his title favourites to The AMEX and would eventually come away from the South Coast with all three points
- It was something of a rude awakening for Brighton as the step up in opposition was apparent to see
- Brighton will however earned some respect for their performance especially after keeping City at bay for 70 minutes but ultimately they were masters of their own downfall.
- Chris Hughton’s side gave a decent account of themselves but the blue machine of Pep Guardiola’s City squad eventually ground them down
- Gabriel Jesus was perhaps not unlucky to have opened the scoring just before half time
- The ball was in the net but Michael Oliver ruled out the goal for handball
- After an initial touch from the Brazilian it then bounced off of his chest onto his arm before landing in the back of net
- In fairness though it was the right decision and Brighton got out of jail
- After the break though, tiredness began to creep in for the home side as errand passes were becoming all too familiar
- The constant pressing from City was taking it’s toll and eventually a Brighton pickpocketing would lead to the opener
- Dale Stephens gave the ball away out wide with Brighton’s tails starting to pick up but with that surge of momentum pushing his team-mates further forward it left them exposed
- And soon as the ball was pinched off of Stephens, City broke and Kevin De Bruyne was away
- The Belgian found David Silva who in turn looked to send the ball on
- Brighton were outnumbered in a 4 on 3 scenario and Aguero was fed a perfect slide rule pass
- After his earlier shank wide, the Argentine was not going to miss this one and with 20 minutes to go the deadlock was finally broken
- Brighton’s resolve was shattered and soon after the game would be wrapped up as City doubled their advantage
- Lewis Dunk will want to forget this one as after pressure from Gabriel Jesus while trying to do with a lofted ball into the box he ended up heading into his own net
- He perhaps could have been helped by goalkeeper Mathew Ryan who spilled the ball over the line but it was perhaps proof of naivety from the newly promoted side
- After the game Chris Hughton said “If we don’t concede the first then we don’t concede the second”
- Which in all fairness is probably true
- Once Brighton did concede the heads had gone and although the floodgates didn’t perhaps open and it was a respectable defeat you do have to wonder how the landscape of the game would have looked had Aguero not got his goal
- In essence though this was something of a free hit for The Seagulls and not too much can be taken away from this in regards to their hopes for the season
- They do arguably need a bit more quality in the starting eleven but you cannot fault the effort that they put in yesterday
- Whether sheer effort is enough to keep them, I’m not too sure
- As for City, they were not perhaps at their blistering best but after Chelsea came a cropper, Pep Guardiola will be delighted that he already has a three point head start over one of his nearest rivals
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