Match Review: Brighton 1-4 Manchester City

It was the end of an era at the Amex as Manchester City came to town and Brighton bade farewell to the two men who have done more than anybody else to deliver Premier League football to the Albion.

We knew it was going to be a sad occasion once Bruno had announced on Friday that this would be his final game before retiring. What we didn’t know was that it would also be the last time we would see Chris Hughton in the Brighton dugout with the Albion manager being relieved of his duties just over 12 hours after the final whistle had blown on the 2018-19 season.

Bruno and Hughton. They go together like Ant and Dec. Jason and Kylie. Fred and Rose. One is the man who has led by example, set standards and been the ultimate professional in captaining the Albion to the Premier League. The other is the guy who was appointed as manager four-and-a-half years ago and has since transformed us from Championship relegation candidates to a club who can look forward to a third successive season of top flight football.

Both are equally loved and both will go down as two of the very, very best that Brighton have ever had. Only Brian Horton and Alan Mullery have achieved what Bruno and Hughton have done and we will forever be in their debts.

That much was shown by the outpouring of appreciation that greeted Bruno’s 84th minute substitution. Every Brighton played hugged him as he made his way off the pitch and he was clapped by every one of City’s players, as well as Pep Guardiola. Both sets of supporters gave him a standing ovation as “Ole, ole ole ole, Bruno, Bruno” rang out around the Amex.

If that didn’t put a tear in your eye, then what was to come during the lap of appreciation after the final whistle would have. Bruno could barely speak as he tried to hold back the tears, ending an emotional speech with the line “Once a Seagull, always a Seagull”. It was heart wrenching as we said farewell to a player who has very much become Mr Brighton over his seven years with the club. Muchos gracias, Bruno.

Hughton would have been in for an equally emotional send off had we of known that it was to be his last game as well. He’s ultimately paid the price for a terrible second half of the season with just two win in 18 games, only 18 goals scored and home defeats to Burnley, Southampton, Plucky Little Bournemouth and Cardiff City.

That turned a 12 point gap to the relegation zone at Christmas into two points by the end of the season and having to rely on Crystal Palace beating Cardiff to keep us up. For many supporters, this final game of the campaign couldn’t come quick enough as watching Brighton has been a real chore in 2019.

But none of that should take away from the brilliant job Hughton has done as manager. Without him, the Albion wouldn’t be in the position that we found ourselves on Sunday – with millions of people around the world were proceedings at the Amex and those of us who were lucky enough to be there getting the privilege of watching arguably the greatest club side English football has ever seen lifting back-to-back Premier League trophies.

The records will show Hughton’s final match in charge as a 4-1 defeat, but there is no disgrace in that. Guardiola’s side have after all racked up 198 points over the past two seasons and blown all the opposition away.

They are deserved champions and that was shown by the fact that so many Albion supporters stayed behind afterwards to watch them lift the trophy, clapping each City player as he was introduced with the exception of Kyle Walker who remains publicly enemy number one for headbutting Alireza Jahanbakhsh in our FA Cup Semi Final meeting last month.

When City turn up and play as they did in Sussex, not many teams can live with them. The Albion should take huge credit really for not only being able to compete with City in a first half in which the visitors were stopped from having a single shot on target in the opening 20 minutes, but actually having them worried at various points.

Brighton had early chances, Glenn Murray flicking a header from an Anthony Knockaert cross just wide and Alireza Jahanbakhsh flashing an effort past Ederson’s near post after cutting inside. Maty Ryan made a couple of smart stops from Raheem Sterling and Riyad Mahrez but things weren’t going City’s way in the opening exchanges.

News then filtered through that Liverpool had taken the lead against Wolverhampton Wanderers and suddenly, the title was heading to Anfield. Worse was to come for the visitors as in the 27th minute, the unthinkable happened and Brighton took the lead.

City hadn’t gone behind in a Premier League game since their 2-1 defeat against Newcastle United on January 29th. They’d won every single one of their 13 league matches since that night at St James’ Park, but when Murray headed the Albion in front it looked like a record-breaking 14th consecutive victory would be beyond them and Jurgen Klopp’s Reds were going to be crowned champions.

It was an excellent goal from Murray as he got the deftest of heads to a precision Pascal Gross near-post corner for his 15th of the campaign. The veteran striker has now scored 25 of the Albion’s 69 Premier League goals, 36% which makes him the individual with the highest proportion of any team’s goals in the competition’s history.

That’s a sobering thought for those who consistently bang the drum of starting Florin Andone or Jurgen Locadia over him. It’s also something that the next manager needs to address as a matter of urgency as we can’t remain so reliant on a striker who will turn 35 next season to score over a third of our goals. More goals from more sources should be one of the new man’s number one priorities once he assumes office.

The Amex exploded with shock and joy once the ball hit the back of the net and you can imagine it was a similar scene at Anfield once news filtered through. Unfortunately for us and Liverpool, that joy lasted all of 83 seconds as Murray’s goal provided the shock that City needed to pull themselves together, get over that poor start and go onto win the game convincingly.

Straight from kick off, they went up the other end and Sergio Aguero did what Sergio Aguero does best and produced a clinical close range finish past Ryan. Nothing you can do about that. Seven minutes before the break and they took the lead, Murray going from Liverpool’s hero to their villain when he lost possession, City won a corner and Aymeric Laporte arrived unmarked to head home for 2-1.

Lewis Dunk’s clearly been on the beers this week as he decided to take a direct free kick within shooting distance of the City goal late in the first half. Even more remarkable than this ridiculous decision was the fact that it nearly bloody worked, Dunk channeling his inner Cristiano Ronaldo to hit a ‘knuckleball’ strike which Ederson had to push over.

Having gone toe-to-toe with City in the first half, the second half was a different story as the soon-to-be-crowned champions came out at their free flowing best to confirm their place as the first back-to-back winners of the Premier League in a decade.

Mahrez turned Dunk and Duffy inside out before smashing an unstoppable effort into the top corner of Ryan’s goal on 63 minutes and nine minutes later, Ilkay Gundogan hit a stunning free kick over the wall and just out of the reach of the Albion number one’s desperate dive. 4-1 and game, set, match and title to City.

That standing ovation for Bruno followed and there was also one for City captain Vincent Kompany when he was replaced on what could be his last league appearance for the Citizens – the Belgian international is out of contract come the end of the season.

Should he leave the Etihad Stadium, it will be the end of an era at City. For the Albion, it already is. Our captain is gone and now our manager follows him. Whoever takes their places has big boots to fill, with the task of delivering more occasions like these at the Amex.

Watching champions be crowned. Beating Manchester United twice. Defeating Arsenal. Hammering Crystal Palace with 10 men. Hughton and Bruno gave all that to us and so much more. Thank you for everything, El Capitan and the gaffer.