Manchester City have lost two consecutive league games, but no alarm should be sounded. Enzo Maresca’s fast-passing team were defeated on Saturday because Yasin Ayari took one of Brighton’s rare chances, the 11th-minute winner deriving from what appeared a wrongly awarded free-kick for Elliot Anderson’s foul on Ayari. Brighton can be proud of victory here – and of being third.
They are worth the lofty position and who would bet against Champions League qualification? They protected their lead admirably because City kept coming at them: City’s problem was the final touch or finish and not creating enough for the lethal Erling Haaland. When Nico O’Reilly, a second-half substitute, zipped the ball across goal towards the end, Iliman Ndiaye sprayed wide – a fair summation of what cost City.
Ndiaye and Josko Gvardiol were replaced after this by Phil Foden and Allan Elias as Maresca tried to salvage a point or better. It did not occur, but his stewardship continues to impress, three months in. City were slick throughout, as when Ayyoub Bouaddi’s quick feet found Enzo Fernández and he poked the ball out to the left with a no-look pass that found the menacing Jérémy Doku.
But they were made to look chumps when Ayari scored despite the move emanating from the free-kick given against Anderson. Maresca said he had not seen the incident back. Lewis Dunk swept the dead ball right to Diego Gómez and from this point City slumbered.
When Gómez crossed, Matheus Nunes missed his clearance, the ball came back in via Maxim De Cuyper, and Ayari scored into an empty goal, with Gianluigi Donnarumma stranded. As in City’s Carabao Cup penalty shootout win over Brighton here on Wednesday, the visitors pummelled the hosts – for a period. City required a spark, so Anderson stepped up, his snake-hips along the right creating space for a pinpoint ball that Ndiaye should have headed home, not wide.
The Senegal international next wowed with a throwback slaloming run that took him from the right and near halfway into Brighton’s area. Suddenly, the target gaped and if he had driven beyond Bart Verbruggen and not into the goalkeeper’s gloves it would have been a goal of the season contender. It was the centrepiece of a swashbuckling response from City, as a Doku raid wreaked havoc along Brighton’s right and Haaland, Gvardiol and Fernández all might have scored an equaliser.
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