Phil Foden scored twice as Manchester City leapfrogged Liverpool and kept the Premier League title race in their own hands by thrashing Brighton & Hove Albion 4-0 at the Amex Stadium.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Arsenal
ARS
|
36 | +60 | 83 |
| 2 |
Man City
MCI
|
35 | +54 | 82 |
| 3 |
Liverpool
LIV
|
36 | +43 | 78 |
Foden moved onto 16 league goals for the season with a first-half brace, his first a free-kick deflected past a wrong-footed Jason Steele before stroking home his second after some reckless play from the Seagulls.
Kevin De Bruyne had earlier given City the lead with what was his 68th Premier League goal but the first with his head, as Pep Guardiola's men made light of Erling Haaland's injury-enforced absence.
Julian Alvarez added a fourth as City - unbeaten in 18 Premier League matches and 30 in all competitions - pulled two points clear of Liverpool and to within one of Arsenal with a match in hand. Five further wins will guarantee they retain their crown.
Brighton, meanwhile, stay in the bottom half with 44 points, having been surpassed by AFC Bournemouth on Wednesday.
How the match unfolded
Nathan Ake could not keep his shot down when presented with the first half-chance after a low-key start, but City went ahead with a brilliant goal after 17 minutes.
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Foden slipped Kyle Walker in on the right flank, and De Bruyne watched the full-back's cross all the way before sending a wonderful diving header into the top-right corner.
There was more fortune about City's second, which arrived just nine minutes later as Foden's free-kick deflected in off Pascal Gross amid Brighton complaints about how he had won the set-piece.
Brighton only had themselves to blame when Foden got his second after 34 minutes, though. Valentin Barco conceded possession cheaply on the edge of his area, and Foden swept the loose ball into the bottom-left corner.
Ederson denied Joao Pedro as Brighton improved in the second half, but City had further daylight just after the hour-mark, Walker breaking in behind and beating Steele to a loose ball, with Alvarez on hand to turn home.
Brighton appealed for a penalty following a clumsy Josko Gvardiol challenge on Pedro, who skewed wide late on as City – who went close to a fifth through substitute Jeremy Doku late on and face struggling Nottingham Forest next – claimed a statement win.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 |
Man Utd
MUN
|
34 | +1 | 54 |
| 9 |
West Ham
WHU
|
36 | -14 | 49 |
| 10 |
Bournemouth
BOU
|
36 | -11 | 48 |
| 11 |
Brighton
BHA
|
35 | -4 | 47 |
Foden's star still rising
Foden is among the leading candidates to be shortlisted for the EA SPORTS Player of the Season award, and he has gone up a gear in the run-in, also scoring a hat-trick on his last league appearance when City thrashed Aston Villa 4-1 earlier this month.
He was in imperious form again on Thursday, even if Brighton's fans were not happy with the way he went down for the free-kick that ultimately resulted in his first goal.
That strike was Foden's 50th in the Premier League, making him just the third player to score a half century of top-flight goals under Guardiola while aged 23 or younger, after Lionel Messi and Haaland.
It is no wonder Brighton's fans are sick of the sight of the England man; he has eight goals in his last eight Premier League appearances against the Seagulls, more than he has scored against any other club in the competition.
Seagulls' wings clipped
Hampered by injuries to the likes of Pervis Estupinan, Kaoru Mitoma and Evan Ferguson, Brighton have seen their European hopes falter in recent weeks and now appear to be limping to the finishing line.
Roberto De Zerbi's team are winless in their last five Premier League matches (two draws, three defeats) and sit six points adrift of the top seven with matches against Bournemouth, Aston Villa, Newcastle United, Chelsea and Manchester United to come.
Brighton have even seen their supply of goals dry up, scoring only four times in eight league matches since thrashing Sheffield United 5-0 in February.
Club reports
Brighton report | Man City report
Next Premier League fixtures
Key facts
Man City are now unbeaten in 30 matches in all competitions (W24 D6), making them the third English top-flight side to go 30+ games without defeat, after Nott'm Forest (40 in 1978) and Man Utd (twice - 34 in 1993/94 and 33 in 1998/99).
Valentín Barco was the eighth different teenager to start a Premier League match for Brighton under De Zerbi – this is now at least twice as many as any other club since the Italian's first game in charge in October 2022.
In his 390th Premier League appearance, Man City’s Walker provided two assists in the same game for the first time in the competition.
Brighton have won only six of their last 27 Premier League matches (D11 L10) – since the start of this spell in September, only Burnley (5), Nott’m Forest (5), and Sheff Utd (3) have won fewer matches in the division.
