Foden fires Man City to third
LONDON: Phil Foden fired Manchester City into third place in the Premier League on Wednesday as Pep Guardiola’s men saw off a feisty challenge from Brighton to win 1-0.
Much of the recent talk has been about a potential duel between leaders Manchester United and champions Liverpool but Pep Guardiola’s men are now right in the mix.
The 2018 and 2019 champions started the season sluggishly but have hit the accelerator in recent weeks and are now just one point behind Liverpool with a game in hand.
City played without a recognised striker against Graham Potter’s Brighton but despite not being at their fluent best in soggy Manchester, Foden’s first-half goal proved enough.
“We knew how tough it would be,” Guardiola told the BBC. “Brighton had a good mentality to play.
“We had a really good first half and had chances. After we missed a really clear chance in the second half they were better.
“We need to win these sort of games. It is a good lesson for us. Every game will be like this.”
The home side had a golden chance to take an early lead when the impressive Kevin De Bruyne was put through by Ilkay Gundogan but goalkeeper Robert Sanchez blocked the Belgian’s right-footed shot.
Brighton’s Leandro Trossard had a chance to test the returning Ederson in the City goal but he bent his shot wide.
As City found their rhythm, Brighton defender Joel Veltman reacted well to clear and De Bruyne had another chance five minutes from half-time after a swift break but his powerful shot was well saved.
City’s pressure finally told in the 44th minute. Foden received the ball from De Bruyne on the left of the attack.
The 20-year-old wriggled past two
Brighton defenders and stroked the ball inside the near post from the edge of the box with his right foot.
It was the England international’s eighth goal of the season — he is City’s top-scorer in all competitions.
City are now unbeaten in their past 14 games in all competitions and have won seven in a row.
FULHAM DENY TOTTENHAM
Jose Mourinho slammed Tottenham’s “avoidable” mistakes and lack of killer instinct after Fulham’s Ivan Cavaleiro rescued a 1-1 draw on Wednesday.
Harry Kane had put the hosts ahead in the first half at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, but Cavaleiro struck in the closing stages to leave Mourinho frustrated.
Tottenham have won just two of their last eight league matches and sit in sixth place. “Once more we concede a goal that is completely avoidable. You have to keep a clean-sheet, not make mistakes. The markers are there. There wasn’t even an advantage in terms of numbers,” Mourinho said.
“We have lots of opportunities to kill off matches. In other cases especially
away we are winning but then don’t have that ambition to get the goal and kill the game.
“There are things that are individual mistakes. We have bad results and we should avoid these results.”
RESULTS
Manchester City 1 (Foden 44) Brighton 0; Tottenham 1 (Kane 25) Fulham 1 (Cavaleiro 74)