After a convincing 2-0 win against Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday, Manchester City put themselves back on top of the Premier League table, with a little help from Chelsea and Liverpool drawing in their encounter. With the top three teams all yet to be beaten, the competition is already hotting up. I’m back to look at the stats and talk you through the match.
Team Work Makes the Dream Work
As a team, City simply outclassed Brighton on many levels. They were dominant and controlled the run of play, leaving Brighton on the defensive. With City claiming 80% of the possession, it may not come as a surprise that most of the match was played in Brighton’s final third.
The sky blues had 28 shots, eight of which were on target as opposed to the seagulls who only managed to get in four shots, one of which was on target. Most of Brighton’s very sparse attacks were shut down quickly and efficiently, showing that defensively the team have definitely improved. Whether this has to do with Delph not playing is only speculation. However, Zinchenko did do a magnificent job standing in.
Overall, it has been said that City have been taking too many touches in their games but with 93% passing accuracy it doesn’t seem to be causing many problems.
Raheem Sterling
The stand out player of the match has to be Raheem Sterling. He was the highest rated player on the pitch scoring a 9.1 rating, and there is definitely a reason for that. Not only did he score one of the goals, but he assisted the other. Pairing this with his incredible 98% passing accuracy just shows how well he performed. He also made four key passes, seven crosses and won eight out of 15 duels.
Since the beginning of last season, Raheem Sterling has been involved in a total of 35 Premier League goals for Man City. He has scored 22 and assisted in 13, meaning he is currently on top form.
Parking the Bus
Like many teams who face City, Brighton seemed to park the bus and not offer much in terms of going forward. This was a disappointment as teams like Wolves and Lyon have shown, if you take the game to City you can compete. It would certainly have made for a more interesting game rather than just watching Brighton defend.
Brighton committed 10 fouls, picked up three yellow cards and made a total of 34 clearances. City really put them to work with goalkeeper Matthew Ryan making six saves. They were very lucky to come away from the match having only conceded two goals in all honesty.
Conclusion
A comfortable win for City, not exciting but enough to put them back on top. One concern coming out of the match would be that Agüero is carrying a slight heel injury. Whether he will be included in the squad for tomorrow’s Champions League match is questionable. On a more positive note, back-to-back wins mean that City should be going into tomorrow’s fixture full of confidence and looking to redeem themselves from their defeat to Lyon.
