Double-chasing Manchester City ensured Brighton did not exude their usual bright spark at the Amex, as they thumped the Seagulls 4-0 in their backyard.
The EPL run-in is proving very exciting as Arsenal and Liverpool try to wrestle the league title from the champions, Manchester City.
Liverpool suffered a blow on Wednesday night when they got defeated 2-0 at Goodison Park in the Merseyside derby.
Liverpool had played the same number of games as Arsenal, and both have played two games more than Manchester City before the champions’ kickoff at the Amex, and the Reds found themselves three points from the top spot, with 74 points.
Arsenal’s thumping win against Chelsea a few days ago, moved them to the summit of the Premier League table.
Manchester City had to do something to reclaim the top spot, and after wrapping up another cup final, beating Chelsea 1-0 at Wembley, making it to the FA Cup final, where they will play rivals, Manchester United, they had to face the Seagulls at the Amex.
Pep Guardiola described the away game as a very difficult fixture while heaping a lot of praise on the Seagulls’ Italian manager, Roberto De Zerbi.
In the end, it didn’t prove to be quite as difficult as Pep described it, as Manchester City showed Arsenal that they could match them in their productivity in front of the goal.
Having won just twice in ten games in the Premier League, this was always going to be a difficult game for the Seagulls, who have seemingly lost their spark.
A European place does not appear realistic for Brighton this season. Injuries have played their part in their poor run in the run-in.
Winning four successive English Premier League titles has never been done before, but Manchester City are in the hunt for that record.
With the win at Brighton — and with a game in hand — the Manchester club, City, came to within just a point of the leaders, Arsenal.
With Erling Haaland sitting out the game through injury, other players had to step up to provide the goals Pep Guardiola needed.
You could trust him to provide Erling Haaland with an assist if the Norwegian was on the pitch, but Kevin De Bruyne showed that he is not only good with the assists, but when it comes to scoring them too, you can trust him to do that.
The Belgian gave City the start they needed when he headed in a Kyle Walker cross to open the scoring after 17 minutes.
That goal was his first headed goal in the Premier League.
Soon, it was 2-0 as a controversially given free kick on the edge of the Brighton box was hit past Steele by Phil Foden, via a deflection. Brighton felt hard done by, but City didn’t care much.
The Seagulls’ lost spark showed on the night, as they made several mistakes they could not afford to make against a very clinical Manchester City side, who know goals could play a part in the run-in.
After trying to pass their way out from the back, Bernardo Silva intercepted a pass, feeding it to Phil Foden, and the England international — whose international manager, Gareth Southgate was in the stands watching the game — could not miss, as he clinically finished to get his second of the night, and put City 3-0 up after just 34 minutes.
At this point, the Brighton fans feared the worst, as they knew how ruthless Manchester City could be.
World Cup winner, Julian Alvarez, ended his 10-game Premier League scoreless run with a fourth City goal, assisted once more by the impressive City captain, Kyle Walker.
Again, Brighton felt they should have had a foul, as Kyle Walker appeared to have handled the ball before passing it to Alvarez, but the goal stood, and City were four goals to the good.
Attempts by Joao Pedro to win a penalty off Josko Gvardiol were unsuccessful; Brighton were furious, but the game was out of their hands at that time.
Goal difference may play a part in where the Premier League title ends up, and at the moment, the Gunners have a better goal difference, with 8 more goals scored than Manchester City.
If Manchester City are able to win all of their remaining Premier League matches, though, the goals would count for nothing as they will win the Premier League title on points won, and that is if the Gunners also win their four remaining Premier League matches.
Manchester City have five matches to end their season, with matches against Nottingham Forest, Wolves, Fulham, Tottenham, and West Ham to come.