Pep Guardiola's Manchester City demonstrated this Thursday that they are a formidable contender for the Premier League title, which would mark the fourth consecutive win for the 'citizens'—a potential new record in English football. Under Roberto De Zerbi, Brighton started the match strongly in the initial fifteen minutes, but City quickly took control and decisively beat the 'Seagulls' 4-0.
During the postponed Matchday 29 of the Premier League, Manchester City delivered a dominant performance as the visiting team against Brighton. With one more game pending, City now trails Arsenal by just one point in the title race. The match, largely decided in the first half at the American Express Community Stadium, featured goals from Kevin De Bruyne and a double from Phil Foden. In the second half, Julián Álvarez sealed the victory.
"It's one of the toughest matches of the season," Guardiola had warned of Brighton's threats, but his players proved otherwise. It took just over half an hour to settle the match decisively. Despite missing Haaland due to ongoing issues from a substitution against Madrid—his second missed game since—City didn’t skip a beat, with Foden stepping up in his absence.
The scoring opened at 16 minutes when Foden set up Walker on the right flank, who then delivered a precise cutback for De Bruyne to head in a spectacular dive, placing the ball just off the corner for a 1-0 lead. The home team's boldness was punished on every front: high pressing, ball movement, man-marking—City had answers for everything. With Haaland out, De Bruyne stepped up to spectacularly open the scoring with a header that flew into the top corner—a shot rarely seen from the Belgian, who now has 6 goals and 12 assists in 18 matches in 2024.
Brighton had a chance to equalize from a corner by Colo Barco, making his first start since arriving in England. He accurately found Dunk, who headed the ball, but it lacked the power and direction to convert into a goal.
At 25 minutes, following a debatable foul on Foden, the left-footed player took a free-kick just outside the area, leaning to the right. His shot deflected off Pascal Gross, wrong-footing the goalkeeper to make it 2-0. Seven minutes later, Brighton's risky play in their own area cost them dearly: under high pressure from City, Barco lost the ball to Bernardo Silva. Foden quickly capitalized, extending the lead to 3-0 shortly after the half-hour mark.
Foden, spectacular again
From there, it was Phil Foden's time to shine—or rather, continue shining. Already recognized for his escalating performance this season, Foden had scored twice by halftime. First, a fortuitously deflected free-kick sneaked into the net. Then, a steal in the opponent's area by Bernardo Silva was calmly finished by the Stockport midfielder.
His last goal marked Foden's 50th in the Premier League, contributing to a total of 24 goals across all competitions this season. The second half was largely procedural for both teams, beyond Julián Álvarez's determination to score.
Despite Brighton’s offensive substitutions to re-enter the match, it was City who scored in the second half through Julián Álvarez, who broke his dry spell. After a couple of unsuccessful attempts, at 17 minutes, Walker took advantage of a long pass from the goalkeeper. Following a scramble with the Brighton goalkeeper, the rebound fell to Julián, who secured the final 4-0 score.
Even as Brighton resisted, Guardiola began to rest key players like Foden and De Bruyne, followed by Walker, Bernardo Silva, and Rodri. Next Saturday, they face Nottingham Forest, who are struggling to avoid relegation.
With this victory, Manchester City now has 76 points, surpassing Liverpool (74), and is just one point behind Arsenal with a game in hand for Guardiola’s squad, who are self-reliant on securing their fourth consecutive Premier League title.
Pep Guardiola's Comments After the Match
Pep Guardiola understood the significance of this victory, yet he emphasized that they must not become complacent in the title race: "Of course the pressure is there. Otherwise, we couldn't perform like this. There are five games left. We go to the next one. That's all I can say."
Guardiola noted that the fact City has been in similar pressure situations in previous title races does not provide any advantage: "What we've done in the past doesn't mean it will happen in the future. To do it again, we have to make it happen. I would love to think that winning the last three Premier League titles and securing a 4-0 here would automatically win the upcoming matches, but it doesn't work that way. There are five matches left. The game against Forest will be very challenging because of what's at stake for them. What happened to Liverpool can happen to us and to Arsenal too."