April 21, (THEWILL) – On Wednesday night in the English Premier League, Manchester City may not have been at their best but they still managed a tense 3-0 win over Brighton to reclaim top spot in the standings.
Pep Guardiola’s side were dominant throughout, but without a cutting edge in front of goal, relying on deflected strikes from Riyad Mahrez and Phil Foden, as well as a wonderful goal from Bernardo Silva, to secure the win.
City started strongly and could have been in front within the first five minutes. Mahrez was on the edge of the box when a corner was delivered in his direction, but his reckless volley flew high and wide.
Soon after, Nathan Ake and Riyad Mahrez both had half-chance headers, with City hammering on the door but unable to break through.
Another City chance opened up when Robert Sanchez’s pass sailed across the box and fell at the feet of Mahrez, who could not get his feet straightened out in time before Moises Caicedo slid back to end the threat.
The pressure was building, and Kevin De Bruyne sent Sanchez scrambling with a long-range drive that squeaked past the goalkeeper’s post. Then came Silva’s curling strike, which Sanchez handled admirably.
Despite City’s dominance in the first half, the only time they looked like they might get past Sanchez was when he put himself in danger. At halftime, Guardiola still had work to do.
It was the same story after the break, with Joao Cancelo and Rodri both having attempts deflected wide just a few minutes into the second half, but they ultimately broke the deadlock in the 53rd minute through Mahrez.
A stunning deflection from Joel Veltman allowed De Bruyne launch a counter attack and he found the onrushing Mahrez, whose strike on goal seemed a little tame but looped over Sanchez.
That goal had a lot of luck, and the second goal, which occurred ten minutes later, had even more luck.
Due to some sloppy Brighton passing, City were awarded a corner, which Mahrez delivered to Foden outside the area. Even though the Englishman’s effort was quite poor, it went beyond Sanchez by another heavy deflection.
Later on, Foden had an opportunity to score a better goal, but he sent a poor effort straight at Sanchez, before the offside flag saved his blushes.
City took 82 minutes to display any kind of quality in front of goal. Silva got the ball thanks to some excellent pressing, and his one-touch finish from the edge of the box was perfectly placed into Sanchez’s bottom corner to seal what turned out to be a fairly routine victory.
The crucial three points for the Citizens lift them back into first place, ahead of Liverpool, as they reclaim control of the title chase. They will play relegation-threatened Watford next, and they will be confident of adding to their tally.
Meanwhile, the visitors’ winning streak has come to an end, and they have dropped to 10th place. They will meet Southampton at the Amex Stadium next in an attempt to return to winning ways.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
