Brighton 1-1 Man City: Albion give the champions a football lesson

Hands up, who was fearing the worst when the teams were announced one hour before kick off at the Amex in what eventually became Brighton 1-1 Man City?

The champions went virtually full strength with Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden all involved. Brighton in contrast rested Lewis Dunk, Joel Veltman, Alexis Mac Allister and Evan Ferguson.

Those first two names being absent gave the Albion backline something of a makeshift look. Jan Paul van Hecke facing off with Haaland? Pascal Gross, as much as we all love him, defending a flank against a combination of Foden, Bernardo Silva and Rico Lewis? Okay…

It was almost as if Roberto De Zerbi had forgotten that a 16 goal swing to Aston Villa could yet send Brighton into the Europa Conference rather than the Europa League. Either that, or was he still pissed from dancing on tables across the pubs of Brighton & Hove on Sunday night.

And if second bottom, lowest scorers in the Premier League since the winter break Everton could hit five at the Amex, the mind boggled at the damage record-breaking Haaland and Foden with his love of scoring against the Albion could cause.

At some point maybe, we might learn to unconditionally trust whatever De Zerbi does. Foden got his goal, yes, making it six in seven career appearances facing the Seagulls.

But other than that and one questionable VAR decision against Haaland, Man City were given a footballing lesson in their 1-1 draw with Brighton.

One of the finest sides in English football history, already Premier League champions and hoping to emulate the Manchester United class of 1999 by winning the treble, outplayed by the Albion.

It was a fitting way for Brighton to sign off this most incredible of seasons in front of their own fans, guaranteeing sixth spot and meaning there is nothing to play for at Aston Villa on Sunday.

Those heading to the Midlands can simply enjoy themselves, even if Jason Steele channels his inner David Stockdale and lets a last minute shot from 30 yards through his legs. De Zerbi and his players have already done their job.

City arrived at the Amex having won 12 consecutive matches in the Premier League. Pep Guardiola was full of nice compliments before the game, saying De Zerbi was one of the most revolutionary managers of the past 20 years and comparing the Brighton head coach to a Michelin star chef transforming the world of food.

The Guardiola mask slipped a little though during the game, as it always does when things do not go his way. He received a booking for a gradual descent into madness on the touchline during the second half, unable to cope with his expensively assembled side playing second best to the Albion.

From the first whistle, Brighton 1-1 Man City was fantastic entertainment. Going toe-to-toe were two of the best teams in Europe; a sentence which it will never not seem mad applying to Brighton & Hove Albion.

The first real chance went the way of City. Foden tricked his way to the by-line and hung up a cross to the back post where Haaland had peeled unmarked.

Luckily for Brighton, the Norwegian was unusually off target with his finishing, heading over the bar much to the shock and delight of a raucous Amex.

Stefan Ortega saved from Billy Gilmour and then kept out a Pascal Gross free kick. Already, City were struggling to contain the one-touch passing of the Albion and the devilish dribbling displayed by South American teenage duo Julio Enciso and Facundo Buonanotte.

City’s answer? Illegally halt Brighton at every opportunity. Who knew that the Citizens love a niggly foul almost as much as their Abu Dhabi owners do restricting the rights of the LGBTQ+ community?

Another of these cynical trips gave Welbeck the chance to hit a free kick from 25 yards out. Ortega was beaten by a strike featuring a potent combination of bend and lift; unfortunately though, the crossbar was not and the ball crashed against the woodwork and away to safety.

De Zerbi had decided to deploy similar tactics to those used in the 3-0 win at Arsenal, where Levi Colwill was tasked with shunning the normal duties of a centre back and following Martin Odegaard around.

This time, Colwill’s man marking job was on Kevin De Bruyne. Such a game plan is not without risk; at times, it meant Brighton were effectively playing a back three when De Bruyne dropped deep and Colwill followed into the City half.

Van Hecke deserves a lot of credit for the way he coped with being left alone to deal with Haaland. Only twice did the City striker find himself free in a central area, the first when picked out by a brilliant pass from Foden.

Jason Steele though snuffed out the danger, saving bravely at the feet of Haaland when the entire world and his wife would have been expecting City to take the lead.

The second occasion saw Silva release Haaland, who was played onside due to Gross being about 10 yards deeper than anyone else in blue and white.

Steele was caught in two minds about what to do this time, half-heartedly coming forward from his line only to realise he was now in no man’s land.

Haaland advanced, waited for support and then squared to Foden for the simple task of picking an empty spot in the goal away from the covering Van Hecke.

Five minutes later and Kaoru Mitoma bundled the ball home from a corner, only for it to be disallowed for handball.

This proved to be a correct decision, Mitoma seemingly forgetting for a moment he was playing football and instead channelling the spirit of the Japan rugby team and their shock World Cup win over South Africa at the Amex back in 2015 by scoring a lovely try.

Buonanotte glided past three City players before taking a shot saved by Ortega. There was nothing the visiting goalkeeper could do, however, when Enciso made it Brighton 1-1 Man City seven minutes before half time.

Picking up a pass out of defence from Colwill, Enciso meandered to 30 yards out and hit an absolutely outrageous shot into the very top corner.

Watch the highlights back and even before the ball hits the back of the net, you can see a City fan behind the goal applauding.

Forget the annual WAB Goal of the Season award; we might well have to do a special Enciso Goal of the Season Award just for the Paraguayan, given the only currency he seems to deal in is wonder strikes.

The Citizens were stunned and Welbeck had the ball in the back of the net before the break, only to have strayed offside from a Mitoma pass.

De Bruyne and Foden departed early in the second half and that helped the Albion dominate proceedings even more.

Steele’s only piece of work other than that disallowed Haaland goal to come saw him keep out a powerful shot from Foden’s replacement, Cole Palmer.

Ortega denied Ferguson at his near post and Pervis Estupinan was not far away with an effort cracked from what felt like 40 yards without breaking stride.

Haaland then headed a Palmer cross past Steele, only for it to be ruled out after a VAR check for a shirt pull on Colwill by the City striker.

Not that many of the Citizens fans noticed; they were too busy “doing the Poznan” to celebrate a goal that never was.

That proved to be their only contribution all evening; despite chasing an historic treble, there were plenty of visible empty seats in an away end which was silent.

The game calmed down after that with the final 10 being non-descript. This hardly came as a surprise given the blood-and-thunder nature of the previous 80 minutes.

With the full time whistle came the confirmation that Brighton will finish sixth in the Premier League. On this basis though against a City side who are amongst the best to ever play the game, Brighton could yet climb to even greater heights all the while De Zerbi remains at the helm.

The most incredible season of our lives came to a close at the Amex with one of the most entertaining games of football the Albion have ever been involved.

Do you get the feeling this might just be the start of something even more special?