EPL 2017/18: Brighton & Hove Albion 0-2 Manchester City, Player Ratings
Manchester City got their Premier League season off to an excellent start, running out 2-0 winners in the evening kick off against newly promoted Brighton & Hove Albion.
Brighton put in a magnificent defensive display as it took City 70 mins to take the lead, but Sergio Aguero capitalised on one of the few opportunities they had. City were then gifted a second goal a few minutes later as Lewis Dunk headed into his own net and all but finished the game off.
Take a look at how the players fared:
Brighton & Hove Albion
Mathew Ryan – 6
He made an excellent save in the first half to deny Gabriel Jesus but made a mess of an easy save that led to City's second goal.
Bruno – 6
The experienced full back dealt with Danilo very well and looked composed in possession. He put in a very solid performance to help keep a talented City side out for 70 minutes.
Shane Duffy – 7
The central defender put in a fantastic shift in the first half to keep out both Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus. He nearly gifted a goal to City early in the second half but he avoided embarrassment after a miscued effort from Aguero.
Lewis Dunk – 6
Alongside his partner Duffy, Dunk defended tremendously in the first half putting his life on the line. However, the second half became more difficult as City continued to attack and he headed into his own net for City’s second.
Markus Suttner – 5
As expected, the left back had trouble dealing with Kyle Walker and most of Manchester City’s joy came down their right-hand side.
Solly March – 7
Marched looked very composed and was by far the most comfortable in possession for Brighton as the team struggled to see any of the ball throughout the game.
Dale Stephens – 6
Stephens had a hard time dealing with Silva and De Bruyne but did his best to keep them at bay for almost 70 minutes. He gave the ball away for the first goal and arguably cost his team a potential draw with a slight lapse in concentration.
Davy Propper – 4
Brighton’s new record signing put in a very nervy performance and gave the ball away on lots of occasions.
Issy Brown – N/A
The Chelsea loanee had to be hauled off early due to injury and was replaced by Jamie Murphy.
Pascal Gross – 5
With Brighton seeing so little of the ball, the striker struggled to get involved. Gross put in hard work all evening but mainly in a defensive capacity.
Tomer Hemed – 5
Similar to Gross, Hemed struggled to have any impact due to City’s dominance.
Substitutions:
Jamie Murphy – 7
Murphy found himself in behind on a couple of occasions as he was one of the few Brighton players to make runs beyond the City back three. He also put in a strong shift defensively, trying to help Suttner.
Glenn Murray – 5
Like Hemed before him, he had a hard time getting involved and creating attacks for his side. It also didn’t help that he had little to no time to have an effect on the game.
Anthony Knockaert – N/A
Knockaert made some excellent runs in behind and looked bright and positive, however, he had come on when the game was pretty much finished.
Manchester City
Ederson – 6
The Brazilian goalkeeper watched on for most of the game as he had little to do. He fumbled a cross once but that was about it.
Vincent Kompany – 6
The Belgian did not look comfortable or even match fit as he was bypassed on the few occasions that Brighton attacked. But for the main part, he was solid in possession.
John Stones – 7
The English defender looked extremely comfortable in the middle of the back three. It helped that he had little to do but it was still a solid performance from Stones.
Nicolas Otamendi – 7
Otamendi often looked to help out in attack and defended well at times. The Argentinian will be hoping for more dominant performances like this for City this season.
Kyle Walker – 8
The full back looked extremely threatening going forward and created numerous chances. He had little to do defensively.
Fernandinho – 7
The Brazilian did well to press and break up play whenever the Seagulls came forward in what was a very solid performance from him.
David Silva – 7
Silva, as he usually does, found himself on the ball on lots of occasions and helped transition the ball into attacking areas from deep. He also played a fantastic through ball to Aguero to open the scoring.
Danilo – 6
The Brazilian full back looked very comfortable on his debut, but was helped by the fact that Brighton barely threatened City’s defence. He eventually came off for Sane as he struggled to directly trouble Brighton in attack.
Kevin De Bruyne – 7
The Belgian played a good through ball to Silva before City opened the scoring and was an important part of City’s attack on most occasions. He may not have had as much of an impact as expected but he always looked threatening.
Sergio Aguero – 8
Unsurprisingly, the Argentinian opened the scoring in a game where he had to bide his time and wait for an opportunity. He missed a great chance early in the second half but comfortably buried his second chance to make it 1-0.
Gabriel Jesus – 7
The Brazilian’s movement is phenomenal. He will cause almost every team in the Premier League to panic when playing against them as he did against Brighton today.
Substitutions:
Leroy Sane – 6
As always Sane looked dangerous, but he would have preferred to have played from the start.
Raheem Sterling – N/A
Sterling played the final 15 minutes and had little time to make an impact but still threatened Brighton’s defence on the odd occasion with his pace and directness.
Bernardo Silva – N/A
The new City signing made just a short cameo and had little time to threaten Brighton’s defence.