Manchester City 0–4 Brighton: Foden scores twice as the winners pass Liverpool

After beating Brighton 4-0, Manchester City overtook Liverpool and maintained control of the Premier League championship chase thanks to two goals from Phil Foden.

At the Amex Stadium, Foden extended his league goal tally to 16 goals this season with a first-half brace. Following some careless play by the Seagulls, a free kick deflected past an unaware Jason Steele and was stroked home.

Prior to this, De Bruyne had given City the lead with his 68th Premier League goal—his first with his head—as Pep Guardiola’s team exploited Erling Haaland’s injury-caused absence.

With a game remaining, City moved two points clear of Liverpool and one point ahead of Arsenal thanks to a fourth goal from Julian Alvarez. They are aware that five more victories would ensure they keep the title.

With 44 points, Brighton, on the other hand, is in the bottom half after Bournemouth’s victory on Wednesday.

After a quiet beginning, Nathan Ake was given the first half-chance but could not keep his shot down. However, after 17 minutes, City took the lead with an incredible goal.

De Bruyne monitored the full-back’s cross all the way before unleashing a fantastic diving header into the top-right corner after Foden slipped Kyle Walker in on the right wing.

Nine minutes later, in the midst of Brighton’s protests about Foden’s set-piece win, Foden’s free-kick deflected in off Pascal Gross for City’s second goal. This one carried even more luck.

But when Foden scored his second goal after thirty-four minutes, Brighton had only themselves to blame. On the outside of his area, Valentin Barco gave up control cheaply, and Foden swept the loose ball into the bottom-left corner.

Joao Pedro was denied by Ederson as Brighton became better in the second half, but just after the hour, Walker got in behind Steele and beat him to a loose ball, which Alvarez turned in to give City some breathing room.

Josko Gvardiol’s reckless foul on Pedro earned him a penalty, which infuriated Brighton. Pedro swerved wide late in the game as City, who will next play struggling Nottingham Forest, came dangerously close to a fifth goal via Jeremy Doku, scored a statement victory.

Foden’s career is still booming

As the clear favorite to win Premier League Player of the Season, Foden has stepped up his game in the final stretch. Earlier this month, in City’s 4-1 thrashing of Aston Villa, he scored a hat-trick.

Even if Brighton’s supporters were not pleased with how he went down for the free-kick that eventually led to his first goal, he was in commanding form again on Thursday.

With the goal, Foden became only the third player, after Lionel Messi and Erling Haaland, to score 50 goals in the Premier League while still under 23. Foden’s previous high total was 49 goals in the league.

The England player has scored eight goals in his previous eight Premier League games against the Seagulls, more than he has against any other side in the tournament, so it is understandable why Brighton’s supporters are tired of seeing him.

Wings of seagulls clipped

Due to injuries to players like Evan Ferguson, Kaoru Mitoma, and Pervis Estupinan, Brighton’s chances of qualifying for Europe have waned recently, and they now seem to be crawling to the finish line.

With games against Bournemouth, Aston Villa, Newcastle United, Chelsea, and Manchester United coming up, Roberto De Zerbi’s club is six points outside of the top seven and has not won in their previous five Premier League games (two draws and three losses).

Brighton’s goal supply has even dried up; after smashing Sheffield United 5-0 in February, they have only scored four goals in eight league games.