Brighton can be proud it took Rick O’Shay to win it for Man City

As I waited patiently for Johnny Cantor on BBC Radio Sussex to tell us that Brighton had kicked off against Manchester City, Arsenal were already a goal ahead against Chelsea on the TV.

The Gunners taking an early lead against their London rivals came as a bit of a shock. Maybe there would be hope for the Albion at the Etihad Stadium?

Playing City is always a strange experience. I was confident that Brighton would be doing their utmost to try and at least get a point.

And yet everyone knew if City turned up at their best then they would still win, no matter how well the Albion played.

What made this game doubly difficult was how important it was for the home team. They had to win to retake their throne at the top of the Premier League by one point from Liverpool. As we all know, City eventually did this convincingly in the second half.

In the first half, Brighton did everyone that could be asked of them in keeping the ball out of the Albion net.

One highlight was some exceptional defending from Moises Caicedo which prevented a goal following a wayward clearance by Robert Sanchez. All of the other attempts City had were thankfully wide of the post.

Graham Potter had said before the game that Brighton were facing the best team in the world. He, the players and us fans could all be happy then to go into half time with the score at 0-0.

Little did we know that City would bring out their new star signing in the second half and play with 12 men. The new addition was Rick O’Shay!

The first Man City goal came in the 53rd minute. Riyad Mahrez took a shot which took a Rick O’Shay off Joel Veltman to beat Robert Sanchez.

This was then then followed by Phil Foden having a go from distance. Again, Rick O’Shay got involved to deflect the ball off Enock Mwepu.

City now led 2-0 though two goals which Brighton could put down to pure bad luck. There were still 25 minutes left but it was a big hill for the Albion to climb and suddenly, their passing became unusually inaccurate.

There were not many chances for Brighton and the game was well and truly up when City made the most of another misplaced clearance by Sanchez.

Oleksandr Zinchenko intercepted and played the ball through to Bernardo Silva who buried the chance into the back of the net. Man City 3-0 Brighton and that is how it ended.

From listening on the radio, you got the feeling that the Albion continued to fight but they just could not match the quality of the league leaders – especially that Rick O’Shay chap.

Defeat at the Etihad Stadium should not take away from two excellent recent away performances, however. Wins at Arsenal and Spurs leave Brighton on 40 points and in 10th place.

We will beat our all-time record of 41 points and who knows, we might win at the Amex this Sunday against Southampton. Bring it on.

Finally folks, the Albion are in the process of setting up a brand new Fan Advisory Board. I was informed last week that I have made the shortlist and the club website will soon show the applicants vying for your votes.

I am asking now for your support. Please give me your vote via the website when it appears online next week. Thanks in advance – and Up the Albion!

Tony Noble @Noble1844Tony