‘Winning the transfer window’ is misunderstood. Manchester City’s 12-game Premier League winning streak ended on Wednesday when they were beaten to a 1-1 draw at sixth-place Brighton and Hove Albion.
Phil Foden’s goal in the 25th minute gave treble-chasing City, who had just clinched their fifth championship in six seasons, the lead despite playing with less vigor than normal.
With the victory, Brighton has earned a spot in the Europa League, the club’s maiden foray into Europe. Brighton demonstrated why with some exciting play until Julio Enciso equalized for the visitors with a magnificent long-range shot in the 38th minute. What a feat, what a set of gentlemen, what a club. Top management fosters a sense of community, culture, and unity. Special occasions” remarked Brighton goalkeeper Jason Steele.
Before the break, Brighton’s Danny Welbeck had a goal disallowed, and late in the game, Erling Haaland thought he had given City the lead but was penalized for shirt-pulling after a VAR review.
It was City’s first losing streak since the beginning of February. With one league match remaining on Sunday at Brentford, City has 89 points, eight more than Arsenal. Aston Villa, now in seventh place, cannot reach Brighton’s total of 62.
‘Winning the transfer window’ is misunderstood
Although City manager Pep Guardiola had already won another championship and the FA Cup and Champions League finals were still to come, his desire to win had not dimmed.
While he received a yellow card for his verbal barrage when Haaland’s late goal was disallowed, a loss would have been cruel on a Brighton team with the finest season in the club’s history.
Outstanding game. Congratulations to Brighton for earning a spot in the Europa League, remarked Guardiola. “We behaved and proved why we were the champions against that team 48 hours after consuming all the alcohol in Manchester,” the player said.
In a fun match, Brighton and City were evenly matched. Brighton had 20 goal attempts to City’s 13, with seven of them being successful.
Nevertheless, even with their attention now fixed on two of the most important games in club history, City still had a powerful offensive presence thanks to Haaland’s rampaging forward.
When he had a one-on-one opportunity to score, the Norwegian appeared to be on his way to doing so, but Brighton goalkeeper Jason Steele denied him.
After being sent free by Riyad Mahrez’s pass the next time, he went through and, after dodging Steele, picked out Foden, whose shot reached the bottom corner.
He picked up the ball in an open area about 25 meters from the goal and fired a right-foot rocket past Stefan Ortega’s diving body into the top corner of the net.
A precise offside call prevented Welbeck from scoring after he had already struck the goal frame with a free kick.
Brighton also had numerous opportunities in the second half, but when Haaland headed in a cross from Cole Palmer, it appeared he had scored his 53rd goal of the year. VAR said he had unmistakably grabbed Levi Colwill’s jersey as the ball crossed the goalmouth.
With just one goal in his last six games, Haaland’s goal pace has significantly dropped. With an FA Cup final on June 3 and the Champions League final one week later, City’s supporters will hope he is holding back a few more for the two weeks ahead.
