Manchester City are starting to deliver good results, and in general in recent weeks have looked much better and much more stable than at the start of the season. Coach Pep Guardiola also talks about it quite a bit at his recent press conferences, and tonight (Wednesday) the Blues put together a fourth straight league win, beating Brighton 0-1 in the 18th round of the Premier League.
Beyond being the fourth straight win in the league, this is the Citizens’ seventh straight win in all competitions. Now, they have moved up to third place with 32 points on their balance – one less than Liverpool the other and four less than Manchester United at the top. City have one game missing relative to the two teams above them, so they can narrow the gap from first place to just one point later.
Despite all the compliments, it was not a brilliant play by Guardiola’s players, who, while completely in control of the ball, struggled to provide truly significant threats on Brighton’s goal. The winning goal came thanks to an effort by Phil Foden in the 44th minute and not from a great situation, when the young midfielder received an excellent ball from Kevin de Bruyne on the verge of the seagulls, took fantastic control and sent a great ball with his right foot to the net.
By the way, in the goal scored by the 20-year-old Poden he became the king of Manchester City goals this season in all competitions with eight conquests, four of them in the Premier League. De Briena cookbook 14 in all settings and ninth in the league. The Belgian midfielder failed wide in extra time and squeezed a penalty, which he negligently missed Raheem Sterling with a ball that was high and far from the frame.
The Citizens as mentioned did not shine today, but are completely in the championship fight and the top of the boiling league. Brighton, for her part, is in 17th place and is deep in the underground battles. The Seagulls have not won nine consecutive Premier League games and are only three points away from Fulham, which is below the red line. However, following the Coronation blow to the Cottages, they have three games less than Brighton, so the Seagulls may still find themselves below the line.