Yahoo Finance Brighton 1-4 Man City: Phil Foden emerging as Pep Guardiola’s next focal point
A dominant first-half performance from Manchester City saw them run out 4-1 winners away at Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday evening.
During the opening forty-five minutes, Pep Guardiola’s side looked at their imperious best. When City are in that kind of form, controlling the game with such ease their opponents may as well not be there, it’s hard to think of another Premier League or indeed European team who can match them.
The goals, however, were scrappy, though that may be what a team without a fixed star striker need. First, Robert Sanchez dropped a catch in the 13th minute to allow Bernado Silva to tee up Ilkay Gundogan before a counter-attack saw Jack Grealish’s pass for Phil Foden deflected in off Dan Burn.
Minutes later, Gabriel Jesus’ driven effort from close range hit Foden before evading Sanchez again, giving City a substantial lead at the interval.
Still, Graham Potter’s Brighton aren’t a team who give up. In the second-half, they were much improved and Alexis Mac Allister’s 81st-minute penalty was the least they deserved. In front of willing home support, they were largely pegging City back even if the clear-cut chances were few and far between.
As improved as their hosts were, Ciy found a way, as all good champions tend to do, Indeed, one of the major critiques of Guardiola’s teams is that they tend to concede goals in bursts but their game management meant even that consolation caused little worry.
Foden was the standout. His brace may have been sloppy but, with Kevin De Bruyne benched and Grealish yet to truly make his case as a £100m player, it is the young academy graduate who looks the focal point of the City attack.
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