In the early morning of April 26, Beijing time, a make-up match in the 29th round of the English Premier League was played by Brighton at home against Manchester City. Kevin De Bruyne opened the scoring for City in the first half, before Foden scored a brace before Alvarez added the icing on the cake in the second half. In the end, Manchester City beat Brighton 4-0 to complete the season double, and at the same time rose to second place with 76 points, only one point away from Arsenal with one game in hand.
With the Champions League out of the tournament early, Manchester City only has domestic competitions left, and since the FA Cup final is played at the end of the Premier League season, Guardiola's next focus is all on the league title.
At present, Manchester City is four points behind Arsenal and one point behind Liverpool in two games less, and urgently needs to grab points to return to the top position. In this round, Manchester City challenged Brighton away, and in the last five meetings between the two teams, Manchester City remained unbeaten with 4 wins and 1 draw, including a 2-1 win at home this season.
In this game, Haaland was absent continuously, B seat, Foden, and Alvarez formed the Manchester City forward trident, and Rodri and De Bruyne led the midfield.
Against Brighton, Manchester City entered the game quickly, lacking Haaland's fulcrum role and easily penetrating the opponent's backline.
In the 17th minute, Manchester City's front field continued to pass together, Walker crossed to the goal, De Bruyne possessed the header to score, and the score became 1-0.
According to statistics, since entering 2024, De Bruyne has participated in 18 matches in all competitions, and has contributed 6 goals, 12 assists, and has been directly involved in 18 goals, which is very efficient.
In the 26th minute, Foden took a free kick directly at the goal, and the ball hit the opposing player and then refracted into the net, helping Manchester City extend their lead 2-0.
In the 33rd minute, Brighton's backfield pass error was cut off by the B seat, and Foden scored a brace to help Manchester City continue to lead 3-0.
Statistically, Foden has scored 16 goals in the Premier League this season, reaching a total of 51 goals in his Premier League career, unlocking a milestone moment, while contributing 24 goals and 10 assists in 48 games in all competitions, also setting a personal record.
Half-time statistics, Manchester City possession rate of 66% is obviously superior, shots on goal 9 to 3 and shots on target 3 to 2, goal conversion rate is very high, Brighton grasp the opportunity is not enough, but also due to their own mistakes to concede a goal, the game gradually lost suspense.
In the second half, City continued to control the game.
In the 62nd minute, Manchester City's backfield kicked to the front, Walker got a single chance, and the final shot was blocked, Alvarez easily scored a supplementary shot, helping Manchester City 4-0 basic game suspense.
After that, Brighton organised an offensive attempt to break down Manchester City's goal, but it was ultimately unsuccessful, suffering a four-goal defeat at home.
After Manchester City won, it directly changed the fate of the three teams. First of all, Manchester City, with 76 points, moved up to second place, just one point away from leaders Arsenal with one game less, followed by Liverpool, two points behind Manchester City with one more game and has basically withdrawn from the title race, and finally Brighton, nine points behind sixth-placed Manchester United, with only five games left to fight for sixth.
With one game less, Manchester City will win all five games left to secure the title over Arsenal, who will have to wait for a miracle for teams such as Tottenham to stop Manchester City.