Match ends, Manchester City 1, Brighton and Hove Albion 0.
Manchester City extended their unbeaten run to 14 matches in all competitions with a hard-fought win over struggling Brighton.
Phil Foden grabbed the only goal just before half-time when he collected Kevin de Bruyne's pass, created space and fired into the bottom corner.
The hosts had chances to extend the lead, Riyad Mahrez shooting just wide, Ilkay Gundogan seeing an effort saved by Brighton goalkeeper Robert Sanchez and Bernardo Silva hitting the crossbar. Most culpably, Raheem Sterling sent an injury-time penalty over the bar after Sanchez had fouled De Bruyne.
Alexis Mac Allister had perhaps the Seagulls' best chance to equalise but shot over the top.
City's fourth straight win in the league moved them up to third. Brighton, meanwhile, have now not won in nine league matches and are just two points ahead of 18th-placed Fulham, who have two games in hand.
From the bottom half to title challengers
City have now not lost since 21 November when they were beaten 2-0 at Tottenham, a result that left Pep Guardiola's side 11th in the Premier League.
However, their form has been superb since then with 11 wins and three draws in all competitions, and only three goals conceded in that period. Across league and cups, they have now won seven in a row.
What makes those statistics even more impressive is that Guardiola has repeatedly been without key players because of coronavirus, with goalkeeper Ederson, defender Kyle Walker and forwards Gabriel Jesus and Ferran Torres among those to have missed recent matches.
Against Brighton, City were missing striker Sergio Aguero, the Argentine self-isolating following contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19. With Sterling, Jesus and Torres starting on the bench, De Bruyne operated as a makeshift centre-forward.
And the Belgium international was at the heart of City's best moves. He had a shot saved by Sanchez from a tight angle then released Mahrez, who could only shoot wide.
But just before half-time De Bruyne grabbed his ninth Premier League assist of the season when he slid a pass to Foden and the 20-year-old England midfielder did the rest, taking three touches to evade the Brighton defenders and then shooting past Sanchez.
Mahrez, Gundogan, Silva, Joao Cancelo and De Bruyne all had efforts inside the opening 20 minutes of the second half as City pushed for a second to kill the game off.
Sterling, who came on in the 82nd minute as a replacement for Foden, fired a penalty over in stoppage time after Sanchez's clumsy foul on De Bruyne.
City, champions in 2017-18 and 2018-19 and runners-up last time, are right back in contention. They are now only four points behind leaders Manchester United with a game in hand on their rivals.
Brighton lack cutting edge needed to get a point
Brighton, without a win in the Premier League since they beat Aston Villa 2-1 on 21 November, will be encouraged by their battling performance, but lacked the quality up front to get a point.
Graham Potter's side had to wait 40 minutes for their first corner, and then the delivery was poor and City quickly broke with De Bruyne forcing a fine save from Sanchez.
The Seagulls did not have a shot on target until 10 minutes into the second half and that was no trouble for Ederson as Davy Propper's strike was straight at him.
Percy Tau, making his Premier League debut more than two years after signing for Brighton, set up Mac Allister, who shot narrowly over.
Potter brought on top goalscorer Neal Maupay for Tau for the last 22 minutes, but the Frenchman could not inspire an equaliser.
Another clean sheet for City - the stats
- Manchester City have won their past four Premier League games, as many as they had in their previous 11 in the competition (won four, drew five, lost two).
- Brighton are without a win in nine Premier League games, the longest current run in the competition (drew five, lost four).
- No side have kept more Premier League clean sheets this season than Manchester City (eight), who also having the fewest goals conceded (13).
- City have won all seven of their Premier League meetings with Brighton, by an aggregate score of 21-2.
- City have missed seven penalties in the Premier League since the start of last season, more than any other side. Three of these have been missed by Raheem Sterling.
- Phil Foden scored his eighth goal of the season in all competitions, more than any other Manchester City player.
- City's Kevin de Bruyne provided his 14th assist of the season in all competitions - no Premier League player has more.
'Back to our best' - what they said
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola told BBC Sport: "We knew how tough it would be. Brighton had a good mentality to play.
"We had a really good first half and had chances. After we missed a really clear chance in the second half, they were better.
"We need to win these sort of games. It is a good lesson for us. Every game will be like this.
"Phil Foden is 20 years old. Look at the stats, the amount of games, the assists compared to the bigger stars in football. He can play both sides, in the middle as a false nine. He is so clever in front of goal. That is why he deserves to play."
Manchester City match-winner Phil Foden said: "It definitely feels like we're back to our best. We've taken confidence from the last few results.
"We could have done better but overall I'm very proud of the team. It's a great result.
"Brighton defended really well and had a good gameplan. To get the goal before half-time was really important. It ended up as the winning goal so I'm delighted."
Brighton boss Graham Potter told BBC Sport: "We are disappointed to come away with nothing. We met a top team. I'm so proud of the players. You have to suffer here, that's how it is. We tried to attack.
"You're always on the stretch because they have fantastic players. They're so good, they drive you back. Our intention was to be on the front foot and play and attack when we could.
"The boys defended well when they had to and left everything on the pitch which is all you can ask."
On Percy Tau, Potter added: "I think you got glimpses. It's a tough game for a forward because you have to expend a lot of energy defending which takes away from the quality he has. He's got plenty of time and we need to help him."
What's next?
Brighton will be searching for only their third league win of the season when they play at Leeds on Saturday, 16 January (15:00 GMT).
This was the second of four home matches in a row for Manchester City and they host Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Sunday (19:15 GMT).
Player of the match
De BruyneKevin De Bruyne
Manchester City
Avg
- Squad number17Player nameDe BruyneAverage rating
7.37
- Squad number47Player nameFodenAverage rating
7.21
- Squad number3Player nameRúben DiasAverage rating
7.08
- Squad number5Player nameStonesAverage rating
6.80
- Squad number20Player nameBernardo SilvaAverage rating
6.49
- Squad number8Player nameGündoganAverage rating
6.40
- Squad number27Player nameJoão CanceloAverage rating
6.35
- Squad number31Player nameEdersonAverage rating
6.29
- Squad number16Player nameRodriAverage rating
6.17
- Squad number11Player nameZinchenkoAverage rating
5.87
- Squad number26Player nameMahrezAverage rating
5.60
- Squad number9Player nameGabriel JesusAverage rating
4.69
- Squad number7Player nameSterlingAverage rating
3.93
Brighton & Hove Albion
Avg
- Squad number22Player nameTauAverage rating
6.80
- Squad number26Player nameSánchezAverage rating
6.50
- Squad number10Player nameMac AllisterAverage rating
6.36
- Squad number11Player nameTrossardAverage rating
6.31
- Squad number4Player nameWebsterAverage rating
6.30
- Squad number3Player nameWhiteAverage rating
6.18
- Squad number30Player nameBernardoAverage rating
6.14
- Squad number5Player nameDunkAverage rating
6.07
- Squad number9Player nameMaupayAverage rating
6.02
- Squad number33Player nameBurnAverage rating
5.93
- Squad number34Player nameVeltmanAverage rating
5.90
- Squad number67Player nameKhadraAverage rating
5.86
- Squad number24Player namePröpperAverage rating
5.82
- Squad number20Player nameMarchAverage rating
5.57
Line-ups
Man City
Formation 4-3-3
- 31Ederson
- 27Cancelo
- 5Stones
- 3Rúben Dias
- 11Zinchenko
- 17De Bruyne
- 16Rodri
- 8Gündogan
- 26MahrezSubstituted forGabriel Jesusat 67'minutes
- 20Bernardo Silva
- 47FodenSubstituted forSterlingat 82'minutes
Substitutes
- 2Walker
- 7Sterling
- 9Gabriel Jesus
- 13Steffen
- 21F Torres
- 22Mendy
- 25Fernandinho
- 78Harwood-Bellis
- 79Mbete
Brighton
Formation 4-1-2-1-2
- 26Sánchez
- 34VeltmanBooked at 62mins
- 4WebsterBooked at 77mins
- 5Dunk
- 33Burn
- 3White
- 24PröpperSubstituted forMarchat 68'minutes
- 30Bernardo
- 10Mac Allister
- 11TrossardSubstituted forKhadraat 86'minutes
- 22TauSubstituted forMaupayat 68'minutes
Substitutes
- 9Maupay
- 13Groß
- 20March
- 29Zeqiri
- 31Walton
- 41Sanders
- 47Jenks
- 54Weir
- 67Khadra
- Referee:
- Darren England
Match Stats
- Possession
- Home65%
- Away35%
- Shots
- Home16
- Away5
- Shots on Target
- Home6
- Away1
- Corners
- Home8
- Away4
- Fouls
- Home4
- Away12
Live Text
Post update
Full Time
Second Half ends, Manchester City 1, Brighton and Hove Albion 0.
Post update
Foul by Raheem Sterling (Manchester City).
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Solly March (Brighton and Hove Albion) wins a free kick on the right wing.
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Penalty missed! Bad penalty by Raheem Sterling (Manchester City) right footed shot is just a bit too high. Raheem Sterling should be disappointed.
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Penalty Manchester City. Kevin De Bruyne draws a foul in the penalty area.
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Penalty conceded by Robert Sánchez (Brighton and Hove Albion) after a foul in the penalty area.
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Corner, Brighton and Hove Albion. Conceded by John Stones.
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Corner, Brighton and Hove Albion. Conceded by Bernardo Silva.
Substitution
Substitution, Brighton and Hove Albion. Reda Khadra replaces Leandro Trossard.
Post update
Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Post update
Foul by Joël Veltman (Brighton and Hove Albion).
Post update
Attempt blocked. Raheem Sterling (Manchester City) right footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Kevin De Bruyne.
Substitution
Substitution, Manchester City. Raheem Sterling replaces Phil Foden.
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Ilkay Gündogan (Manchester City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Post update
Foul by Solly March (Brighton and Hove Albion).
Post update
Offside, Brighton and Hove Albion. Joël Veltman tries a through ball, but Dan Burn is caught offside.
Post update
Attempt blocked. Neal Maupay (Brighton and Hove Albion) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Leandro Trossard.
Booking
Adam Webster (Brighton and Hove Albion) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Post update
Bernardo Silva (Manchester City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Comments
Join the conversation
City back in the mix.
Brighton were good, no top quality players but they are managed well.
Brighton over Burnley, West Brom, q any day.
Well... GP over Allardyce, Dyce, Bruce.
We are going to see a hell of a lot more from them at some point.
It’s going to be some title race this season.
Anything could happen!
Need to get alittle more ambitious in their attacking play so that they can score more goals, and hence get more out of their games.
They certainly can stay up!!!