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This Brighton and Hove Albion title challenge – as it must be classed now – flies in the face of the saying that money always talks in football. Manchester City have been found guilty of breaching financial rules and fielded the most expensive midfield in Premier League history here, yet the match-winners cost a fraction in comparison.
Looking at Brighton’s winning goal, it was created by a cross that flashed across the City goal from Diego Gómez, an £11m signing who was playing in Major League Soccer in the United States not so long ago. Maxim de Cuyper, a £17.5m signing from Club Brugge, was credited with the assist after Yasin Ayari tapped in.
Ayari cost £3.5m from Swedish club AIK and scored in the 5-0 wins over Coventry and Crystal Palace, and now has this winner to add to his collection. The 23-year-old is another example of Brighton polishing these gems and putting them together in a team that can win against any opponent in the Premier League.
It could keep them at the top end of the table for a good while longer. They have already shown they can defeat Arsenal and they look to have the ingredients to stay the pace with them. In Fabian Hurzeler they have one of the brightest young coaches in the Premier League and he has a squad that are all on the same page.
Dutch goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen was another key player in this win. He kept out Iliman Ndiaye and repelled Erling Haaland, who lost a physical battle with Lewis Dunk. City have now lost two Premier League matches in a row. “You’re going down with the Palace,” chanted the jubilant Brighton fans.
More to follow...
“We’ll take it game by game. See what happens because we have loads of games. Just focussing every day on what’s ahead of us and the job we have. We will continue to do that and see where it leaves us at the end of the season. We are happy with the way we are playing - not just the results but the way we are playing too. We have to continue to develop that style and ruthlessness and we can do great things.”
Man City 0 Brighton 1
Bournemouth 2 Leeds 0
Brentford 2 Forest 0
Coventry 3 Sunderland 1
Hull 2 Ipswich 2
Important to note they’ve also scored 16 goals in the process without reply.
Brighton have done it. Their impressive season continues as Hurzeler’s side condemn Man City to back-to-back Premier League defeats. This result also means that Brighton close the gap on the hosts at the top of the table to just two points. They’ve avenged that midweek League Cup loss in style.
We’re halfway through four minutes of added time. Can Brighton hold on for a statement victory?
O’Reilly misses a sitter. Verbruggen blocks Khusanov’s effort and the rebound falls to O’Reilly who somehow directs it wide from a few yards out. He has to score that. It was agonisingly close to a late Man City leveller.
Brighton are so close to a second, which would have settled this tie. Rutter spearheads a counter attack and cleverly plays in Hinshelwood, who is one-on-one with Donnarumma and attempts an ambitious chip over the goalkeeper. However, his effort drifts into the side netting. Nearly game, set and match for the visitors.
Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al-Mubarak is here at the Etihad Stadium, sat next to CEO Ferran Soriano.
City’s chances have fallen to Iliman Ndiaye, rather than Erling Haaland. Haaland has been preoccupied with battling Lewis Dunk. Enzo Maresca surely won’t be too concerned if this stays 0-1 - his team have created lots of attacks. But their defence is a problem, with 10 goals conceded in the last six games.
Still, Brighton are holding firm against Man City. Foden and Allan have entered the action, with Ndiaye and Gvardiol withdrawn. Brighton have made five changes since the 64th minute, with Hadjam, Wieffer, Hinshelwood, Yalcouye and Rutter all on from the bench.
How have Man City not scored?! O’Reilly darts into the box and squares the ball for Ndiaye, who knocks his close-range effort wide.
It’s wave after wave of Man City pressure. O’Reilly also recently replaced Fernandez as Maresca continues to plot a route back into this contest.
Cherki and Nunes link up, with the latter driving into the box. He cuts inside and shoots, but his fierce effort is superbly saved by Verbruggen. Haaland can’t quite latch onto the rebound. Cherki is starting to pull the strings for the hosts.
This game could go either way. City have been bright, with Ndiaye hitting the crossbar and Mateus Nunes forcing an excellent save from Bart Verbruggen. But Brighton are not parking the bus and are also bringing on fresh legs. Mats Wieffer and Jaouen Hadjam are on and have slotted into the gameplan.
The hosts are struggling in this second half. They’re lacking attacking invention and a spark. Cherki has just come on for Bouaddi as Maresca attempts to shake things up.
Brighton threaten at the start of the second half as Ayari attempts to run provider, squaring a perfectly-weighted ball across to De Cuyper, who wastefully directs it off target. Man City are very lucky to remain just one goal behind.
We are back under way at the Etihad, along with the other four 3pm fixtures. Man City and Brighton are both unchanged at the break.
City have got their timing wrong in the final third - an extra touch, dragging shots, even the great Erling Haaaland has met his match in Lewis Dunk. This is also the first time City’s trio of summer signings have started in midfield together. Elliot Anderson has taken control of possession, with Ayyoub Bouaddi and Enzo Fernandez in more advanced positions. That is £327m worth of central midfielders.
Unreal defending from Dunk, who does well to track Haaland before making a crucial block. The towering Norwegian striker has cut a frustrated figure so far, but he always hurt you in an instance.
Brentford are still on top as Jensen whips a free kick against the crossbar. Forest have been so open at the back.
Brighton threaten as Kostoulas plays in the onrushing Gomez. Man City need Donnarumma to rush out off his line and lead the Brighton man away from goal. At the other end, Haaland has been on the periphery and is patiently waiting to impact this encounter.
Despite going a goal down, it’s all Man City at the moment. They’re really growing until the contest and you feel a goal is coming for the hosts.
Chema Andres is carded after bringing down Ayyoub Bouaddi. The hosts then waste a huge chance as Ndiaye glances Anderson’s ball wide from close range. The former Everton man will be kicking himself.
Chema Andres has picked up a yellow for a professional-ish foul on Ayyoub Bouaddi. It was a smart foul as City were away on a counter-attack. Brighton themselves are playing nice football when they get possession. It has not been a smash and grab.
The striker thought he had opened the scoring after bundling the ball into the net from Bogle’s cross. However, the ball struck his arm as it travelled into the net. Michael Salisbury has been sent over to the monitor and announces that the goal won’t stand.
Enzo Maresca has his arms up in the air, exasperated at Manchester City’s defending. Brighton switched play to Diego Gomez, whose cross went right across the face of the goal. Maxim De Cuyper got lucky with a ricochet and it fell for Yasin Ayari to finish from close range.
“You’re going down with the Palace,” chant the cheeky Brighton away fans.
Forest did the double over Brentford home and away in the Premier League last season. With just one top-flight win this campaign, Glasner’s side would treasure a much-needed victory.
With Liverpool and Arsenal facing each other on Sunday, Man City will view this encounter as a key contest with at least one of those aforementioned clubs guaranteed to drop points tomorrow.
The five 3pm games are under way.
We are moments away from the following 3pm kick-offs:
Man City vs Brighton
Bournemouth vs Leeds
Brentford vs Forest
Coventry vs Sunderland
Hull vs Ipswich
Chelsea have beaten 10-man Manchester United 2-0 in the capital thanks to Morgan Rogers’ solo strike and Cole Palmer’s penalty. Lisandro Martinez was dismissed for picking up two yellow cards in quick succession and conceded the penalty which sealed Man Utd’s fate. Michael Carrick’s side are 16th and have just one win from their opening nine Premier League matches, while Chelsea creep into the top four.
In City-related matters, Jack Grealish is battling for his future next season and faces becoming the Premier League’s most high-profile free agent following his breach of discipline at Everton.
The 31-year-old, who became the first £100m signing by an English club in 2021, is out of contract in eight months and his hopes of staying on Merseyside took a hit when the club decided he would not play in the Carabao Cup win over Newcastle.
While City head coach Enzo Maresca described Grealish as “a good boy with a big heart”, there are no signs of him getting a contract extension at the Etihad Stadium after being loaned out in the last two seasons.
Grealish is expected to be fined by Everton for an unauthorised absence from training and it is unclear when he will be back in David Moyes’ squad, with the club facing Newcastle again on Monday in the Premier League.
He had started the previous four matches and a return to playing regularly will be the key to securing a club next season.
“It is not correct to talk about Jack as he is an Everton player and I don’t have all the information,” said Maresca, who worked with Grealish when he was in Pep Guardiola’s backroom staff. “I still think he is a good guy, a good boy with a big heart.”
Marc Guéhi is on the bench for Manchester City after starting every previous Premier League game this season, so it will be Rúben Dias and Joško Gvardiol as centre-backs against Brighton.
This is the second time in four days these teams have faced each other, with Enzo Maresca bringing back first-choice players after changing his line-up for the EFL Cup. Gianluigi Donnarumma is back in goal - Maresca says his team is “Donnarumma and 10 others” despite his goalkeeper’s mistakes - and Erling Haaland is up front.
Fabian Hürzeler has made six changes to the Brighton team that took City to penalties in midweek, with Pascal Gross, Yasin Ayari, Diego Gómez, Oliver Boscagli and Costinha keeping their places.
Lisandro Martinez is sent off and concedes a penalty after ridiculously barging Wesley Fofana in the face. Senne Lammens gets a hand on Cole Palmer’s penalty, but it still sneaks into the bottom corner and Chelsea now lead 2-0.
Fabian Hurzeler has also rotated his line-up, making six alterations. Lewis Dunk, who missed the deciding penalty last time out, starts in defence. Maxim De Cuyper, Luka Vuskovic and Charalampos Kostoulas also begin the contest.
Enzo Maresca makes 10 changes from the midweek League Cup action. Most notably, Marc Guehi and Rayan Cherki are bench. Erling Haaland, Enzo Fernandez, Elliot Anderson and Jeremy Doku all return to start.
Shortly after half-time, Morgan Rogers has scored a sensational solo goal to break the deadlock for Chelsea at Stamford Bridge after running through Man Utd’s defence. The visitors missed numerous chances in the first half and had a goal disallowed, but now they’ve been punished by Rogers’ brilliance. Are Chelsea about to apply more pressure on the beleaguered Michael Carrick? You can follow the latest updates here.
Good afternoon and welcome to our live coverage of this Saturday’s 3pm Premier League kick-offs.
The most eye-catching fixture sees Manchester City host Brighton & Hove Albion for the second time this week at the Etihad Stadium. On Wednesday evening in the League Cup, Enzo Maresca’s side squeezed past Fabian Hurzeler’s men on penalties (4-3) thanks to second-choice goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli’s heroics after drawing 2-2 in normal time.
Nevertheless, despite this disappointment and the 2-0 loss to Liverpool last weekend, Brighton sit third in the league, just five points behind table-toppers Man City, who suffered their first domestic defeat against Aston Villa seven days ago, which ended their perfect record in this season’s Premier League.
Speaking in his Friday press conference, Maresca said: “I think we’re going in the right direction. I said in the last press conference, after so many years to change manager and many players it takes time to compete again and in this moment we are competing.
“We changed many players and the manager but good thing about the club is we are competing in all the competitions and we know it takes time when you make this many changes but in this moment, we continue in the same way.”
Following a rocky start to the campaign, high-flying Bournemouth have won their previous five matches in all competitions without conceding, beating the likes of AC Milan, Manchester United and Aston Villa by three-goal margins. Bournemouth host Leeds United as they aim to carry on this tremendous unbeaten run at the Vitality Stadium.
Elsewhere, Brentford are at home against Nottingham Forest, who have only tasted victory once in the Premier League and are winless in their latest four games, losing three of them, while the division’s two bottom sides, Coventry City and Sunderland, lock horns in the Midlands with both clubs plotting an ascent out of the relegation zone. The final 3pm game sees two newly-promoted teams clash as Hull City entertain Ipswich Town in Yorkshire.
Team news for all these matches will follow shortly.
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