Summary
City demolished Brighton, scoring five goals in total. It was a painful one
to watch for many of us Albion fans. Our resilient performance and attacking
threat from the Liverpool game gave hope that we could create a result, and
yet we failed to get a single shot on target.
Graham Potter rested his starting fullbacks, giving Bernardo and Martin Montoya starting
positions. Yves Bissouma and Davy Propper were the holding midfielders.
Trossard, Mooy, Connolly, and Gross were ahead of them. Alireza Jahanbakhsh
would feature for the first time since lockdown as a substitute.
The opening ten minutes, in contrast to Liverpool, went without error.
Manchester City did not score and we gave them little to work with. Our own
attack, however, was ineffective. We struggled to generate much threat in
the opposition's final third throughout the match.
From then on, the mistakes would come, and so would City's goals.
A poor defensive situation and excellent work from City led to their first.
Another set-piece error led to City's second. The third goal was the fault
of poor marking and another beautiful City cross. The fourth was a spill by
Maty Ryan, and the fifth went through our hapless goalkeeper's legs.
The Good
A few notable positives from this one, but in reality, it was a sluggish
performance that showed why City play Champions League football and we
don't.
Gross had a few good corner-kick deliveries and we continue to show some
clever set-piece deliveries. Last season, Gross just swung it in with all
his might (not to say that Duffy didn't get his head to a few of those).
Now, we have been able to show more creativity and ingenious passing. None
of which, unfortunately, amounted to anything.
Outside from that, an excellent cross from Gross resulting in a glancing
header from Trossard was one of our only chances. It was a good ball in but
a difficult header and he couldn't quite get the flick on target.
Leo also had a curler from the edge of the box go narrowly wide. Also a
difficult chance.
Also, it should be noted that Jahanbakhsh did come on midway in the second
half. He looked lively, but in a way, dejected. I can't blame him, every
single Albion fan was also dejected watching the game. The way City
mesmerize you with their brilliant passes, expert defending, and
clinical finishes is frustrating. He made a couple good runs that Maupay
didn't take advantage of. Also had a decent cross that was too high for our
little number seven.
It will be interesting to see if he features again in the next game.
The Bad
Where do I start?
No shots on target. Three total.
30% possession.
Two goalkeeper errors.
A multitude of errors on set-pieces.
And, of course, giving the ball away.
In all fairness, it was Manchester City. They effectively press and force
mistakes, and then engineer some of the most breathtaking attacks you'll
ever see. The first goal was a result of a brilliant over-the-top pass from
Mahrez, and then it was 2v2. Sterling finished it off.
But, you have to acknowledge your own mistakes. Midfield didn't come back
quick enough to help the two defenders. Montoya wasn't close enough to
Sterling and really invited him to shoot.
Compare Sterling's beauty to our only two real chances- a Trossard curler
and a Trossard header. Both of which were off target and difficult chances.
But, against Manchester City, either you take them or you don't. Trossard
actually had a number of chances against City in the reverse fixture and
didn't take those either. Not to say any of them were easy by any means, but
it shows the difference between two forwards. Pep even acknowledged this in
October, saying that Brighton were brave to play from the back, but in the
end his attackers were more clinical than the Albion's. Those words were
true once again.
Mat Ryan also had some loud critics for his two mistakes, the first a rare
spillage- leading to City's fourth. The fifth goal went through his legs,
although that one was also a result of poor defending from - guess who -
Webster. If his header had some more distance on it maybe Ryan could have
caught it. But, in reality, it just summed up a
disastrous afternoon.
Looking Ahead
On Thursday we face Southampton, who oddly enough, we have not beaten in
our three seasons in the Premier League. Lets hope to change that.
Southampton recently beat Manchester City 1-0, so to consider this an easy
match would be foolish. Danny Ings and Moussa Djenopo have served well for them in front of goal and our defence will
have to be at their best.
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