Mark O'Mahony makes home debut but Brighton demolished by Manchester City
HOME DEBUT: Former Cork City striker Mark O'Mahony made his home debut for Brighton against Manchester City. Photo by EĂłin Noonan/Sportsfile
Manchester City went above Liverpool into second place in the Premier League with victory on a ground where life has been made uncomfortable for them on occasions in the recent past.
They had won, drawn and lost at the Amex Stadium on their previous three visits but on Thursday night, they made no mistake whatsoever.
Ruthless finishing game them a 3-0 lead after only 34 minutes, with Phil Foden scoring twice to add to Kevin de Bruyne’s opener. Julian Alvarez got the fourth after 62 minutes and there was seldom any doubt about them taking full advantage of the Reds’ defeat by Everton in Wednesday evening’s Merseyside derby.
The City machine now trails Arsenal, the leaders, by a single point and have a game in hand on the Gunners.
While Liverpool have faltered, City continue to look as remorseless as they have done in the late stages of the last three seasons, gaining strength as the finish line comes in sight. Foden in particular kept finding space that the defence seemed unable to deny him.
His major moments of frustration came when teammates failed to spot a darting run that attacked open space or an opening created as he slid between markers.
Trips to Nottingham Forest, Fulham and Tottenham Hotspur, and home matches against Wolves and West Ham, are all that now stand in the way of an unprecedented fourth successive title for Pep Guardiola’s side.
Brighton, who have seen a season that promised so much blighted by an injury list that has now reached double figures, would have been encouraged by the absence of Erling Haaland and a few recent results that would have been hard to predict. But that did not last beyond a bright opening spell and before too long Brighton were staring down the barrel of a heavy defeat.
With teenage Ireland striker Evan Ferguson and Ecuador left back Pervis Estupinan the latest key players to be added to their list of long-term injuries, the Seagulls were understandably a pale shadow of the side that drew this fixture last season to guarantee themselves a place in the Europa League.
They gave Valentin Barco, the 19-year-old Argentina left back, his first Premier League start since joining the club from Boca Juniors in January, while Ireland under-19 and former Cork City striker Mark O’Mahony, also 19, made his second Premier League appearance off the bench.
Remembering last season’s 1-1 draw, in which they give as good as they got, Brighton started with some enterprise and Danny Welbeck drew a diving save from Ederson after three minutes. Then Joao Pedro led a promising attack that foundered when he delayed his pass too long.
Brighton head coach Roberto De Zerbi had opted to man-mark some of City’s danger men, putting Dutch central defender Jan Paul van Hecke on Foden and Poland midfield player Jakub Moder on De Bruyne. In front of them, the formation was a fluid one, with Welbeck, Pedro, Adam Lallana and Pascal Gross rapidly changing positions as if trying to show that they could match City’s dizzying attacking patterns.
Unfortunately, although the ambition was laudable, the reality was rather different. After 17 minutes Foden ran across the Brighton defence and kept on going until he spied a yard of space that van Hecke had left him. A quick pass through the back four found Kyle Walker sprinting free to to deliver a cross to the near post, where De Bruyne had got away from Moder to head in.
Lewis Dunk, the Brighton captain, tried for a quick reply but his header from Barco’s driven corner kick was too close to Ederson. And Alvarez almost doubled the lead with a low shot that went across goal and wide.
But after 25 minutes City were two ahead. The Brighton crowd was displayed by referee Jarred Gillett’s decision to penalise a challenge by Dunk on Foden, feeling that the England attacker had gone over too easliy. They were even less pleased when Pascal Gross turned his back on Foden’s kick and the ball was deflected off his shoulder and past goalkeeper Jason Steele.
Steele then had to dive at Foden’s feet to prevent him from reaching Walker’s low driven cross but it only delayed an inevitable City third, and Brighton contributed mightily to their own downfall, playing a sequence of short passes inside their own penalty area. It might work against some teams, but not City, and Bernardo Silva’s interception of Barco’s attempt to find Carlos Baleba allowed Foden to find the bottom corner.
Alvarez made it four in the second half after Walker had cut inside from the right and hooked the ball past Steele. Brighton missed their best chance when Pedro side-footed Igor Julio’s cross wide six minutes from time.
Steele 6; Veltman 5 (Offiah ht, 6), van Hecke 6, Dunk 6, Barco 5; Baleba 6, Moder 5 (Julio 55, 6); Gross 5, Lallana 7 (Adingra ht 6), Pedro 5; Welbeck 6 (O’Mahony 75).
Verbruggen, Webster, Enciso, Fati, Buonanotte.
Emerson 6; Walker 7 (Lewis 78), Akanji 6, Ake 6, Gvardiol 6; Kovacic 6, Rodri 6 (Gomez 79); Silva 7 (Doku 77), De Bruyne 8 (Nunes 72), Foden 8 (Grealish 70); Alvarez 6.
Ortega, Dias, Stones, Bobb.
Jarred Gillett.
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