Manchester City battle past Brighton & Hove Albion to reclaim Premier League top spot with 3-0 victory

Manchester City beat a resolute Brighton side 3-0 to move back to the top of the Premier League table. Pep Guardiola’s side were frustrated by Brighton’s defensive shape for much of the opening for 45 minutes and struggled to create chances. Ad/> The best opportunity fell to Riyad Mahrez after a poor Robert Sanchez clearance but the Algerian took too long on the ball and was tackled.

Transfers'No answer' — Guardiola refuses to discuss Haaland transfer talkYESTERDAY AT 16:37 The hosts improved after the break and Kevin De Bruyne drove through the midfield avoiding challenges eventually poking it through for Mahrez who finished to put City one up. Premier League table Premier League fixtures / results Premier League top scorers City settled any nerves when Phil Foden’s shot took a huge deflection off Enock Mwepu completely wrong footing Sanchez putting them two goals to the good. They wrapped it up when Bernardo Silva curled in a brilliant third.

It secured a huge three points for the current champions as they responded well to falling behind Liverpool in the title race after their 4-0 demolition of Man United last night. The pressure was firmly on City but they didn't crack despite tension in the crowd after a below par start to the game. However, once City got one goal the result was never in doubt.

Brighton will be disappointed at the score line as they performed well and will deem themselves as unlucky as both the hosts first two goals took deflections. TALKING POINT — CITY BACK IN CHARGE OF TITLE RACE The eyes of the world were on Guardiola's men and Liverpool fans became Brighton supporters for the evening. The Seagulls had a great record away from home (the 6th best in the league prior to the match) and it was