Brighton avenged their midweek Carabao Cup loss to Manchester City with a narrow 1-0 Premier League win at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday. Yasin Ayari's early strike after 11 minutes proved the difference, securing revenge for manager Fabian Hürzeler following Wednesday's shoot-out defeat at the same venue.
The victory left the Seagulls just two points off the top after bouncing back from cup agony and last weekend's defeat at Liverpool. It was also a second successive league defeat for leaders City, who had opened the campaign with seven wins in a row. Champions Arsenal now have the chance to move above City when they travel to Liverpool on Sunday.
City boss Enzo Maresca dropped centre-back Marc Guéhi after his poor recent form and fielded Elliot Anderson, Ayyoub Bouaddi and Enzo Fernández in midfield, naming in-form playmakers Rayan Cherki and Phil Foden on the bench. Brighton took the lead when Lewis Dunk released Diego Gómez with a ball down the right from a free-kick and Matheus Nunes failed to cut out his low cross. The ball rebounded kindly off the ankles of Maxim De Cuyper to present Ayari with a simple finish from close range.
Iliman Ndiaye provided City's most likely route back into the game, heading wide and testing Bart Verbruggen after a weaving run. The hosts battled on with Erling Haaland and Nico O'Reilly going close, but time ran out as Brighton held on to claim a vital win.
Source: ESPN Soccer · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing