Man City 2-1 Brighton: Player ratings as Haaland ends goal drought

Manchester City roared back to winning ways with a comfortable 2-1 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday.

Julian Alvarez sliced his side ahead in the opening stages before Erling Haaland ended his mini-drought with a powerful finish 18 minutes in.

Brighton pulled one back midway through the second half through substitute Ansu Fati - the 18th consecutive away game in which Roberto De Zerbi's side have scored - but it was not enough to secure a comeback against the reigning champions, who ended the game with ten men thanks to Manuel Akanji's dismissal in stoppage time.

How the game unfolded

Jeremy Doku fizzed wide early on but City wouldn't have to wait long for their opening goal as the Belgian's cut-back found Alvarez alone in the box, and his scuffed finish landed in the back of the net to give City the lead after just seven minutes.

It was 2-0 ten minutes later as Haaland collected a loose pass from Carlos Baleba and crashed home from the edge of the penalty area.

Brighton managed to stop the bleeding but offered very little going forward as City enjoyed close to 70% possession, dancing around the Seagulls like this was a training game for the remainder of the first half.

Despite City's wave of dominance, Brighton could have pulled one back early in the second half. Pascal Gross found an inch of space in the box but could never find his balance and ultimately slashed his effort wide.

Stand-in goalkeeper Stefan Ortega did well to snuff out a rare chance for Kaoru Mitoma midway through the second half, but Brighton did snatch a goal through substitute Fati, who poked home following some penalty-box chaos.

Brighton had a bit more energy about them after the goal but they failed to find another way through, although their threat did lead to a second yellow card for Akanji in stoppage time.

Man City player ratings (3-2-4-1)

GK: Stefan Ortega - 6/10 - Did his best to get involved in play but had very little goalkeeping to do. Stood Mitoma up well midway through the second half.

CB: Kyle Walker - 6/10 - Embraced his battle with Kaoru Mitoma. Wasn't afraid of the Japan winger and usually succeeded.

CB: Manuel Akanji - 4/10 - Failed to clear his lines for Brighton's goal and was shown a second yellow card in stoppage time, earning himself a ban for the Manchester derby.

CB: Josko Gvardiol - 7/10 - Got forwards down the left a lot to add to City's attacking arsenal. Looked effortless with his play.

DM: John Stones - 7/10 - Offered some much-needed stability in midfield. Happy to sit deep and let his teammates run riot ahead of him.

DM: Rodri - 7/10 - His influence on this City side is clear. Hoovered up a lot of possession and was allowed to get involved further forward as well. So impactful.

RM: Phil Foden - 7/10 - Danced around the entire pitch with real ease in the first half. Took a breather in the second half and was not as busy.

CM: Bernardo Silva - 7/10 - Linked up with everyone around him. Popped up in each and every pocket of space to offer an outlet to his teammates and form triangles all over the pitch.

CM: Julian Alvarez - 7/10 - One of the worst goals he will ever score, but they all count. Speaks volumes of the sort of form the Argentine is in right now.

LM: Jeremy Doku - 7/10 - Who would have thought that 37-year-old Milner would not be able to cope with one of the most electric wingers in world football? Had less joy against Veltman in the second half.

ST: Erling Haaland - 7/10 - Had to feed off scraps for most of the game but made his goal with some smart pressing and powerful finishing.

Substitutes

SUB: Ruben Dias (74' for Stones) - 6/10

SUB: Jack Grealish (74' for Doku) - 6/10

SUB: Nathan Ake (90' for Alvarez) - N/A

Subs not used: Ederson (GK), Kalvin Phillips, Mateo Kovacic, Sergio Gomez, Matheus Nunes, Rico Lewis

Manager

Pep Guardiola - 7/10 - Blessed by the returns of Stones and Rodri, Guardiola simply had to oversee a comfortable performance.

Brighton player ratings (4-2-3-1)

GK: Jason Steele - 5/10 - Couldn't do a whole lot about the goals.

RB: James Milner - 2/10 - Beaten from pillar to post by Doku, Silva and Gvardiol. Can't fault his work rate but his 37-year-old legs were never going to be up to the task. Hooked at half-time.

CB: Lewis Dunk - 6/10 - Defended deep but did well to limit the space for Haaland for the most part.

CB: Igor - 5/10 - A tough outing for Igor, who couldn't find a way out of City's relentless press.

LB: Solly March - 4/10 - Offered very little up against Foden and failed to make any real impact in attack either. Stretchered off with a scary injury in stoppage time.

DM: Carlos Baleba - 4/10 - Gave the ball away for the second goal in what was an erratic, ill-disciplined performance. Plenty of work to do to fit into this Brighton team.

DM: Pascal Gross - 5/10 - Should've done better with a chance to score early in the second half. Failed to offer any security in defence either.

RM: Simon Adingra - 3/10 - Looked out of his depth against this sort of quality. Had very little to offer and was guilty of a lazy offside as well.

AM: Joao Pedro - 4/10 - Struggled to offer the outlet needed. Poor first touch saw Brighton lose possession unnecessarily.

LM: Kaoru Mitoma - 5/10 - Largely lost his battle with Walker but the one time he did succeed, he created Brighton's goal.

ST: Danny Welbeck - N/A - Pulled up through injury early on and was swiftly replaced.

Substitutes

SUB: Evan Ferguson (15' for Welbeck) - 4/10 - Had no service at all. Put himself about as much as possible but he was never going to get the results.

SUB: Joel Veltman (46' for Milner) - 6/10

SUB: Billy Gilmour (65' for Baleba) - 6/10

SUB: Ansu Fati (65' for Pedro) - 7/10

SUB: Jan Paul van Hecke (90' for March) - N/A

Subs not used: Bart Verbruggen (GK), Adam Webster, Mahmoud Dahoud, Adam Lallana

Manager

Roberto De Zerbi - 4/10 - To turn up at the Etihad with 37-year-old Milner and former winger March as your full-backs is tactical suicide. Figured out his mistake at half-time but the damage was done. Visibly fuming towards the end of the game.

Player of the match: Jeremy Doku (Man City)