Brighton and Hove Albion give Manchester City a real scare

Manchester City 2 Brighton and Hove Albion 1

After a lacklustre first half when City went ahead through Julian Alvarez and of course Erling Haaland, the Seagulls took the game to City.

Ansu Fati’s goal after 73 minutes put the Seagulls right back in it but Albion couldn’t find the opening to carve an equaliser even when Manuel Akanji was sent off late on.

The hosts had suffered successive defeats before the recent international break and the champions were in danger of falling to three consecutive Premier League losses for the first time under Pep Guardiola.

But that looked much less likely once play began at the Etihad Stadium the early goals from Alvarez and Haaland – his first City strike in four matches – put them on course for three points.

Fati’s reply 17 minutes from time made for an exciting finish – and the tension increased when Akanji picked up a second yellow card in stoppage time – but City held on.

For most of the game, City had looked more like their assertive selves, with Rodri back after his costly recent suspension.

And the return of John Stones also brought more assurance, even though first-choice goalkeeper Ederson was on the bench after his recent international exertions for Brazil.

It was pretty much all positive for Pep Guardiola, who speaks highly of Albion boss Roberto De Zerbi, but for all Brighton’s entertaining play, the defence is proving leaky and City exploited the openness.

Phil Foden troubled the visitors early on as he seized possession and broke forward to release the lively Jeremy Doku, who cut inside and curled over.

The opener was not long in coming and again Doku glided through the defence to reach the byline and pull back for Alvarez.

The Argentinian World Cup winner’s strike was not the cleanest but such is his confidence that his first-time shot had too much power, beating Jason Steele for his seventh goal of the season.

City kept up the pressure with another break from deep ending when Josko Gvardiol shot straight at Steele.

Kaoru Mitoma had Brighton’s first opportunity but his tame effort was easily dealt with by Stefan Ortega and the Seagulls suffered a blow when Mancunian Danny Welbeck was forced off injured after 15 minutes.

Haaland took further advantage of Brighton’s defensive weakness as he ended his recent – by his extraordinary standards – goal “drought” by doubling City’s lead on 19 minutes.

The Norwegian was given too much space as he powered towards the box before firing a left-footed shot into the bottom corner from distance.

Alvarez attracted the attention of the VAR after a push on Pascal Gross but nothing was given and Doku threatened again when he beat veteran former City player James Milner but missed the target.

Brighton started to show life early in the second half as Gross skewed a shot wide under pressure.

Haaland latched on to a Foden pass just after the hour but his strike was beaten away by Steele.

And Mitoma had another good chance after getting behind the City back line but Ortega rushed out to block on the edge of the area.

That was a warning that City failed to heed and, moments after Alvarez’s attempt to lob a stranded Steele dropped short, they were caught out by a rapid counter-attack.

Brighton quickly shifted the ball upfield and, although Mitoma’s attempt to pass into the danger area was cut out by Akanji, Fati was on hand to turn in the rebound.

Brighton pressed to the end but struggled to create meaningful chances. Akanji’s late dismissal brought more jitters for the home fans but City completed the job.