AND CITY ONLY HIT FOUR!

They can’t match Chelsea but Foden has Pep’s boys purring

CHELSEA scored seven? Hold my beer, Manchester City seemed to say as they stormed to a 3-0 lead amid a breathless opening half an hour at the Amex Stadium.

They peppered Brighton’s goal with nine shots in that first half — the most of any Premier League side this season — and scored with three of them. It was a performance of complete control against a Brighton team who, until yesterday, had been Fort Knox-like.

They didn’t make it to seven in the end. The second half didn’t follow the pattern of the first, as Brighton emerged looking like a side who had received a royal rollicking from their manager.

Graham Potter’s team got one goal back — an 81st-minute penalty scored by Alexis Mac Allister — but then City capped another excellent evening with a fourth.

This took City up to second in the Premier League table, hot on the tail of Chelsea. Bernardo Silva was a pleasure to watch and, despite Phil Foden’s two goals, my man of the match.

Jack Grealish was his silky self on the left. Gabriel Jesus a workhorse on the right. Together they made everything look easy in that first half, even though there’s no such thing against Potter’s organised Brighton side.

Against Club Brugge, it was Foden. Against Burnley, it was Raheem Sterling. Against Liverpool, it was Grealish.

Guardiola gave his roulette wheel another spin and this time it landed on Foden, who would act as his false nine. Not that it matters too much, considering how fluid City are. Guardiola’s players drift and make themselves so difficult to track.

After five minutes, Joao Cancelo was central and 20 yards out. He struck a shot destined for the bottom left corner until Brighton goalkeeper Robert Sanchez got a hand to it.

After 10 minutes, everyone thought City had scored. Everyone except Lewis Dunk, that is.

Jesus had beaten Sanchez with a shot from the right-hand side. The ball was about to land in the empty net when Dunk appeared, ensuring it remained 0-0 with a bicycle kick on the goal-line. You will not see a better clearance this campaign.

But City were imposing themselves on the hosts and in the 13th minute they got their goal. Sanchez tried to collect a cross but under pressure from Jesus, he dropped it.

Silva acrobatically hooked the ball backwards and Ilkay Gundogan tapped it in.

Referee Kevin Friend was immediately surrounded by blue and white shirts. Brighton were claiming Sanchez had been impeded and that’s why he dropped the ball.

VAR Paul Tierney took a look but wasn’t buying it. The goal was good, and City led 1-0. And in the 28th minute it was 2-0, after a clinical counter-attack. City won the ball in their own box and charged towards the other end at speed. Silva played a perfect pass into Grealish who, instead of shooting, unselfishly squared to Foden to score.

City were having fun now. They fancied another before the break and got it. Grealish’s shot was saved by the feet of keeper Sanchez but Jesus jumped on the loose ball, with his rebound deflecting off Foden on its way in. They could play rock, paper, scissors for who gets it at half-time. In the end, it was awarded to Foden, and it was 3-0. Now on a hat-trick, Foden came close to scoring his third before half-time. His curler towards the top left corner was collected safely by Sanchez, however. As was Grealish’s attempt at finding the top right corner.

City were happy enough with 3-0 after an exhilarating first half. Safe to say they’d earned their half-time oranges.

In the corridors of the Amex as you walk towards the press box, there are pictures hanging on the walls. One is from Brighton’s win over City last season, when they came from 2-0 down to win 3-2. And they gave the comeback a go, Pascal Gross testing Ederson in the 55th minute.

In the 60th, Brighton supporters hoped Cancelo would be dismissed for his late challenge on Tariq Lamptey, but only a yellow was shown. Ederson’s services were required again when Leandro Trossard looked to drill one in.

And in the 80th minute Brighton had a penalty. Enock Mwepu had been felled by Ederson, who didn’t get the ball but did get the man. Mac Allister took it and, despite the City goalkeeper getting a hand to it as he dived left, it was 3-1. The start of a comeback or a consolation? The latter, it turned out.

City made it 4-1 in stoppage time, sub Riyad Mahrez coolly scoring to wrap up a job well done.