Erling Haaland struck twice and Kevin de Bruyne scored a stunning second-half goal as Manchester City earned a 3-1 home win over Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier League on Saturday.
The victory moved second-placed City on to 26 points after 11 games, one behind leaders Arsenal who visit Southampton on Sunday. Brighton is eighth on 15 points.
Haaland scored for the seventh consecutive home game in all competitions to give City the lead midway through the first half and then fired in a penalty in the 43rd minute after a VAR review ruled that visiting captain Lewis Dunk had fouled Bernardo Silva.
Brighton deservedly pulled back a goal early in the second half when Leandro Trossard rifled a shot under diving City goalkeeper Ederson from the edge of the area.
Trossard nearly found an equaliser when he tore down the left wing and towards goal but this time Ederson got the better of him and blocked the shot to force a corner.
City captain De Bruyne then killed off the visitors’ hopes of snatching a point by curling a shot from outside the area high into the net in the 75th minute.
Brighton is still searching for its first win under Roberto De Zerbi but gave a good account of itself, pressing City high up the pitch and doing a far better job of containing the champions than any other visiting team this season.
But it fell behind to the type of goal City is not usually associated with, a long kick downfield from goalkeeper Ederson which landed at the feet of Haaland after a mix-up between Brighton keeper Robert Sanchez and defender Adam Webster.
The Norwegian striker outmuscled Webster and then walked the ball into the net, grabbing his 21st goal of the season in all competitions after failing to score for the first time in 11 matches in last week’s 1-0 defeat away to Liverpool.
Brighton continued to play well but was pegged back again when referee Craig Pawson was advised by the video assistant referee to review the tackle by Dunk on Silva, having initially allowed play to continue.
Haaland made no mistake to tot up his 22nd goal of the campaign which was also City’s 600th Premier League strike under Pep Guardiola, who became the third manager to reach the milestone after Alex Ferguson with Manchester United and Arsene Wenger with Arsenal.
Impressive Everton thrash Palace 3-0 to end losing run
Everton’s Anthony Gordon celebrates scoring his side’s second goal with teammates. | Photo Credit: LEE SMITH
Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored his first goal of the season as Everton ended its three-match losing streak in the Premier League with an impressive 3-0 win over Crystal Palace at home on Saturday.
Frank Lampard’s team climbed four spots up to 11th in the league table on 13 points after 12 games, while Palace slipped to 12th on 13 points with a game in hand.
“For the team and for myself to get the win today it went exactly how I hoped,” Calvert-Lewin said.
“It’s been a while, one I’ve been waiting for, one I’ve been looking forward to and I felt like myself today. It’s been a long time coming but great to get the result.
“A lot of hard work has gone into getting that first goal so I am over the moon.”
Calvert-Lewin, playing in his fourth game after returning from a knee injury, put Everton ahead in the 11th minute when he picked up a clever pass from Alex Iwobi and flicked the ball around Marc Guehi before slotting it into the bottom corner.
Ten minutes later, Anthony Gordon came close to doubling the hosts’ lead with a long-range strike which forced a save from Palace goalkeeper Vicente Guaita, who got a fingertip to the ball to tip it over.
Palace made a bright start in the second half as Wilfried Zaha and Jordan Ayew looked dangerous in the Everton box, but the home side’s defenders kept them quiet.
Gordon finally got his goal in the 63rd minute when he tapped in the rebound from Vitaliy Mykolenko’s saved shot, but the goal was disallowed for offside. The VAR later overturned the decision as the crowd at Goodison Park burst into celebrations.
Dwight McNeil came off the bench and scored in the 84th minute to wrap up the win for Everton as he finished off a brilliant team move, slotting home after a clever one-two with Iwobi, who bagged his second assist of the game.
The result ended Palace’s unbeaten run of three league games and also means that it is yet to win an away league game this term.
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