With a faultless 4-0 victory at Brighton, Manchester City reduced the deficit to one point over Premier League leaders Arsenal. Phil Foden scored twice.
After Liverpool lost to Merseyside rivals Everton in midweek, Arsenal moved four points clear of City with a victory against Chelsea. Pep Guardiola’s team reacted with a strong showing on the south coast to maintain control of their title destiny.
By halftime, City had secured the victory thanks to goals from Kevin De Bruyne, who scored with an incredible diving header high into the net, and Foden, who took advantage of a Brighton error to score twice with a deflected free-kick and a merciless finish into the bottom left corner.
After some excellent work by Kyle Walker, Julian Alvarez scored the fourth goal of the game to complete the ideal evening for Pep Guardiola’s team.
Man City boss Pep Guardiola:
“The statement is three points. This is the only statement. We arrive today at 2am at home. Then after tomorrow we have to fly to Nottingham and another one. We know what we have to do to arrive at the end and try to fight to be champions.
“We have been here in the past but that doesn’t mean that it’s going to happen. We have to do the things to make it happen.
“We come here. We know Brighton’s strengths. In the first half, we found all the right rhythm to play. We found Phil. We scored in all the right moments and the first time we arrived. The second, I don’t know if he was fouled. In those moments we punished them. Brighton away is always tough. Premier League teams know it.”
On the title race: “It’s difficult to catch [Arsenal on goal difference]. The margin is so big. They score a lot of goals, they don’t concede. The target is to win the game. We have five games left, it’s a lot. One game at a time.
“Many things can happen. What happened to Liverpool, against Crystal Palace and Everton, can happen to us. It can happen to Arsenal. Nobody is safe from that. So be calm, be happy today for the victory. The players are still there. Now recover and think of the next one.”
Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi:
“City are one of the best teams in the world and they played very well. Sorry for the first two goals. The first two goals were unlucky.”
Can playing out from the back be a risk? “Yes, sometimes we took the advantage [with playing this way]. For sure if you make mistakes you can concede goals. You have to analyse how many goals we score and points we made playing the ball, then the advantages [outweigh] what we concede.”
In the Premier League on Sunday, Brighton takes on Bournemouth, a rival team on the south coast.
On Sunday, Manchester City plays Nottingham Forest in their next round of title defence. On Saturday, May 4, City will play Wolves once more.
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