CITY TOO SLICK FOR SEAGULLS

CHELSEA scored seven, you say? Hold my beer, Manchester City almost seemed to say as they stormed to 3-0 amid a breathless opening half 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 today, had been like Fort Knox.

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 boys got one goal back — an 81st-minute penalty scored by Alexis Mac Allister — but then City capped another excellent evening with a fourth. That prompted fist bumps among Pep Guardiola and his staff. A good night’s work.

Guardiola said: ‘It was a good lesson, for 30 minutes they were better than us. This game must be played with the ball.

‘We suffered and for the future we’ll be good. This is a huge victory for us. (To win here) is a big compliment.’

Ilkay Gundogan got the ball rolling after just 13 minutes, turning home Bernado Silva’s pass after home goalkeeper Robert Sanchez spilled a routine catch.

Two quickfire goals from Phil Foden, the first finishing off a lightning-quick counter-attack, in three minutes put the game to bed as a contest.

Guardiola beamed: ‘I like

Phil. He knows how to play football. We can have an extra man in the positions we want to play. He has the quality to do that.

Brighton improved after the break and found the net nine minutes from the end as Mac Allister fired home.

Riyad Mahrez restored City’s three-goal cushion in injury time.