MAN CITY - Home, Falmer years:
Prem 17/18-25/26, seasons 7-15.
no league meetings in seasons between 2011 to 2017.

Albion Prem previous encounters home & away: P16 W2 D2 L12 - see Clubs in Archive.

Man C manager: Pep Guardiola (2016) - P472 W = 72.6% @ July '24 . experience: seen it, done it, got a whole lot of t-shirts.
Etihad - ave gate; 54K, cap; 55K . nickname: Citizens . shirt: light blue.

Prem record from 11/12: 1 2 1 2 4 3 / 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 3 @ 25/5/25.
Prem recent best finish = 1st, worst finish = 4th.
C21; title - 8 times, runners-up - 3 times, top four - 4 times, top six - once, top ten - 4 times . relegated - 1 time.
latest podiums; 24/25 - Liverpool Arsenal Man City
23/24 - Man City Arsenal Liverpool . 22/23 - Man City Arsenal Man Utd . 21/22 - Man City Liverpool Chelsea .

Albion v City (H) from 17/18: 0-2 1-4 0-5 3-2 1-4 1-1 0-4 2-1 . . W = 2 D = 1 L = 5 . F8 A23
scorers: Murray Trossard Webster Burn Mac Allister Enciso Pedro O'Riley.
memorable match: Season10 (H) - came from behind in dramatic change of fortunes.
note: for away Falmer Years results and reports scroll further below.

Season15, 9th Premier League (H) Sun 31/8/25 - 2pm
This Sunday lunchtime contest was our second home game, coming at very end of Aug, prior to the first international break. Last term we won here for a lll wld lw sequence - see seasons below. Albion obviously hoped to continue positively for a potential victorious series. Visitors PL away wins total was 67.1% for that 8yr period. Their current away form; w d l = %. The reverse fixture was during Jan - see away scroll below. City finished 3rd in '25, then competed in the Club WC and had revised their squad. At present BHA were ?th and MC ?th. At close of the transfer window BHA signings were: Maxim de Cuyper (Bruges 18m), Olivier Boscagli (PSV free), Diego Coppola (Verona 10m), Charalampos Kostoulas (Olympiakos 30m), Tom Watson (Sunderland 10m). Outs: Pedro (Chelsea 60m), Adingra (S'land 21m), Barco (Strasbourg), Cahill (Orient), Offiah (Preston). Topical talking points: tba
*** report: tba
stats: ht, goals, poss %-% on target, off target, corners, fouls, yellows, subs, shape
weather: . MoM:
team:
subs:
bench:
squad: . injured:
ool: O'Mahony Duberry . left: Pedro Barco Offiah Cahill
Prem P3 . W D L . F A . W D L . F A . Pt Po = 1.xxpt/gm . W = % L = %

Citizens:
Quatr: Pl . W D L . . . F A GD . . Pt Po pt/gm . W% L%
hway:
start: 00 . 00 00 00 . 00 .. 00 . 00 xx = 1.xx . 00.0 00.0 Q1 - P Guardiola
odds at start:
Nov: xth, xpt behind xth at end of start Q1.
run-in forecast: ?pt . actual = ?pt . Po was x . actual Po = x
Champ's Lg:
EFL Cup:
FA Cup:

Season14, 8th Premier League (H) Sat 9/11/24 - w 2-1 ~ Pedro O'Riley
Man City played in the revised Champions League format having completed another very successful campaign in 23/24. They were q-f participants in the Champions Lg, ko'd in R3 of the EFL Cup but runners up in the FA Cup last term. MC pre-season friendlies; US tour: Celtic l 3-4, A Milan l 2-3, Barcelona 2-2, Chelsea w 2-4. Then the Community Shield - Man Utd w 7pen6 1-1. This Prem teatime fixture was the 6th of 19 at home - to begin the second quarter (Q2). The reverse game was 15 Mar '25 prior to the run-in period (Q4) - see away scroll further below. We had lost both matches last season during Oct '23 (A) & Apr '24 (H) scoring only once. Last term we met here during late April's run-in when thrashed by these relentless title chasers. We finished 11th 48pts, while MC were 1st 91pts. Now we had 16pts and they had 23pts after the opening phase. Our Prem record at the Amex versus Citizens was; lll wld l - in all seven seasons to date. A rare single victory stands out. They were straight four-time champs and favourites to make it five in a row. Current home form was; W2 D3 L0 F9 A7 - unbeaten in 5. Visitors away form was: W3 D1 L1 F9 A5 - lost just last week. At the moment Brighton were 8th, while City were 2nd from 10 games played (Q1). In the last three campaigns we'd been 9, 6 & 8 at the halfway stage (Q2). Albion were looking to avoid another defeat against regular silverware holders. MC had 14 players on national duties at Euro 24 finals in Germany during June. Citizens were now drawn against 8 European clubs in the Champions League - at the revamped league stage presently. Their boss Pep Guardiola had merely spent around 21m on 1 new talent and a free transfer prior to the big kickoff and before the August window shut. Well, they'd already got enough for fielding three separate quality teams anyway. In the ongoing EFL Cup competition both clubs were k-o'd recently in R4 to other Prem clubs. Headline news this very week was City had just lost 3 in a row - in EFL Cup, Prem and Champ's Lg. So a big backlash was expected pdq.
*** match report: in the event City led at halftime but Albion turned it around and earned a victory that will go into Sussex by the sea folklore. Visitors had us on toast from kickoff and despite Verbruggen's heroics took the lead from a rebound (23mins). Brighton were still on the beach but Hurzeler sorted tactics at the interval and started to insert a series of super subs. Things began to look up, while City started to lose control. Then two quick goals put Albion ahead. First Pedro poached an equaliser (78mins). Then O'Riley on debut slotted home from Pedro's pass (83mins). The Amex was a cauldron of noise as flagging four-time title winners were on the verge of losing four games running. They rallied but Seagulls held out for a memorable win and first spot on motd late that evening. Brighton fans were all smiles as Pep got the pip when we sang, 'you're getting sacked in the morning.' Fabian and subs had the glory and it was well deserved. Once in a while things go against the odds and today was the day for long-shot locals over predictable pundits. Anything can happen in football if there is belief in the process and executing its actions.
stats: ht 0-1, goals 78,83-23, poss 40%-60%, on target 4-6, off target 6-9, corners 0-4, fouls 12-10, yellows 3-3, subs 5-2, shape 442-4141
weather: settled . gate: . MoM: Verbruggen - top gloves
team: 1 Verbruggen 34 Veltman 29 van Hecke 3 Julio 30 Estupinan 11 Adingra 41 Hinshelwood 26 Ayari 22 Mitoma 14 Rutter 18 Welbeck (C)
subs: 20 Baleba 46 (26), 33 O'Riley 57 (41), 8 Gruda 66 (14), 9 Pedro 66 (11), 15 Moder 90 (22)
bench: 23 Steele 10 Enciso 28 Ferguson 27 Wieffer
squad: 2 Lamptey 6 Milner 7 March . injured: 4 Webster 5 Dunk 17 Minteh 24 Kadioglu
Prem P11 . W3 D3 L0 . F11 A8 . W2 D1 L2 . F8 A7 . Pt19 Po4 = 1.72pt/gm . W = 45.4% L = 18.1%

Citizens:
Quatr: Pl . W D L . . . F A GD . . Pt Po pt/gm . W% L%
total: 38 . 21 08 09 . 72 44 28 . 71 3 = 1.86 . 55.2 23.6
3qtr: 29 . 14 06 09 . 55 40 15 . 48 5 = 1.65 . 48.2 31.0
hfwy: 19 . 09 04 06 . 32 26 06 . 31 6 = 1.63 . 47.3 31.5
start: 10 . 07 02 01 . 21 11 10 . 23 2 = 2.30 . 70.0 10.0 - P Guardiola
Champ's Lg: R Madrid 2-3 (H) 3-1 (A) - p-o
home - I Milan 0-0 Bruges 3-1 Feyenoord 3-3 S Prague 5-0 . away - PSG 4-2 Juventus 2-0 S Lisbon 4-1 S Bratislava 0-4 . Pt11 Po22
EFL Cup: Spurs 2-1 (A) R4, Watford 2-1 (H) R3
FA Cup: Palace L 1-0 final, Forest 0-2 s-f, B'mouth 1-2 (A) q-f, Plymouth 3-1 (H) R5, L Orient 1-2 (A) R4, Salford 8-0 (H) R3
Nov: 2nd in table, 2pts off top at Q1
Jan: 6th, 4pt behind 4th at midway Q2
Apr: 5th, 2pt behind 4th at three-quarters stage Q3
May: 3rd, 3pt behind 2nd at finish Q4
24/25 odds at start: title 11-10 fav, top four 1-10 . sack PG 33/1 . expected to finish: podium
run in: Le'ster 2-0 (H), Man Utd 0-0 (A), Palace 5-2 (H), Everton 0-2 (A), Villa 2-1 (H),
Wolves 1-0 (H), So'ton 0-0 (A), B'mouth 3-1 (H), Fulham 0-2 (A)
run in forecast*: 48pt > 63pt* . max was 75 . actual = 71 . Po was 5 . actual Po = 3

Season13, 7th Premier League (H) Thurs 25/4/24 - L 0-4
Originally this revamped contest was due after Albion's UEL last 16 home leg on a Thursday nite in mid March but got postponed to late April because of a clash that particular weekend between scheduled PL fixtures and FA Cup q-f ties. So far visitors habitual away record was; W10 D2 L3 F33 A18 - as good as it gets. Our Prem record at the Amex versus City was; lll wld - in six seasons to date. That single victory in an otherwise poor sequence catches the eye. We'd conceded a lot of goals against 'em too, tho May '21 was one positive highlight. Current home form was; W7 D6 L2 F28 A19 - a record long unbeaten run here halted last time out. At this moment in time Brighton were 11th, while MC were 3rd after 32 games played. In Europe they had just been knocked out of the Champions League on penalties, while we got k-o'd last month in that above mentioned Europa League's R16. In the FA Cup City reached the final again, while we bombed away in R5. They had not changed managers during our Prem years - why would they? In the January transfer window no big business was done across the Prem due to enforcement of fair play rules & regs. So BHA's original squad became much more depleted due to mounting injuries. We also had initially suffered exertions when playing extra midweek matches, then again from additional international duties and later schedule pile-ups affecting league & cup k-o competitions. Based on previous meetings Brighton were looking for merely a third positve result entertaining City. This was seriously regarded a very tall order. Since first quarter results (Q1), our forecast for points progress from New Year (Q2), had already fallen well short of initial expectations - as shown by tallying actual reciprocal fixture results thru second half of the campaign. Albion had dropped the ball from winter into spring and even gaining a top ten finish was presently debateable. We were way off the pace for another crack at Europe, not to mention how much dosh would be lost for completing the campaign as mid table mediocrity.
*** match report: our game-plan was evident from the get go. We were going to suck them in, play out from the back, break their lines and hit their net. Er, no sh!t sherlock! But City were sensational as they had speed, skill, poetry in motion and most of all will to win. Albion suffered from self inflicted wounds and not for the first time this term either. We left an attacker free and he nutted the lead past flat-footed Steele (17mins). Then Ref gave a dubious f-k and Gross deflected it into our net (26mins). Before the break we made a hash of keeping the ball in our area and bang - City netted again (34mins). De Zerbi put on two subs after tunaround... it seemed like desperation. Cityzens went four ahead from beyond the hour mark and we were well and truly thrashed. It was another mix up at the back and they tapped in for an easy fourth (62mins). Brighton fans began leaving from 70 mins and all you could hear was City fans singing. They had never had an easier night out. Brighton looked a very average side and we slipped into second half of the table with no wins in the run in and five games left to try and score another goal ourselves. Things had come apart at the seams, we were not as good as we thought we were and reality bites hard... especially when playing out from the back against world-class players.
stats: ht 0-3, goals 17,26,43,62, poss 35%-65%, on target 3-6, off target 4-8, corners 4-4, fouls 10-3, yellows 2-0, subs 4-5, shape 442-4141
weather: rain . gate: 31,596 away 2956 . MoM: 19 Barco - great debut on tough gig.
team: 23 Steele 34 Veltman 29 van Hecke 5 Dunk 19 Barco 20 Baleba 15 Moder 13 Gross 14 Lallana 28 Welbeck 9 Pedro
subs: 24 Adingra 45 (14), 42 Offiah 45 (34), 3 Julio 56 (15), 55 O'Mahony 75 (18)
bench: 1 Verbruggen 4 Webster 10 Enciso 31 Fati 40 Buonanotte
squad: . injured: 2 Lamptey 6 Milner 7 March 11 Gilmour 22 Mitoma 28 Ferguson 30 Estupinan 41 Hinshelwood
Prem P33 . W7 D6 L3 . F28 A23 . W4 D5 L8 . F24 A31 . Pt44 Po11 = 1.33pt/gm . W = 33.3% L = 33.3%

Quatr: Pl . W D L . . . F A GD . . Pt Po pt/gm . W% L%
total: 38 . 28 07 03 . 96 34 62 . 91 1 = 2.39 . 73.6 07.8
3qtr: 29 . 19 07 03 . 63 28 35 . 64 3 = 2.20 . 65.5 10.3
hfwy: 19 . 12 04 03 . 45 21 24 . 40 4 = 2.10 . 63.1 15.7
start: 10 . 08 00 02 . 22 07 15 . 24 3 = 2.40 . 80.0 20.0 - P Guardiola
Ch Lg: R Madrid 3-3 (A) 3pen4 1-1 (H) - q-f, Copenhagen 3-1 (H) 1-3 (A) - last 16
Belgrade 3-1 (H) 2-3 (A), Leipzig 1-3 (A), 3-2 (H), Young Boys 1-3 (A) 3-0 (H) - group
EFL Cup: Newcastle 1-0 (A) R3
FA Cup: Man Utd L 1-2 final, Chelsea 1-0 s-f, Newcastle 2-0 (H) q-f, Luton 2-6 (A) R5, Spurs 0-1 (A) R4, Huddersfield 5-0 (H) R3
Club WC: Fluminense w 4-0 final . Urawa w 0-3 s-f
Oct: 3rd in table, 2pts off 1st at Q1.
Dec: 4th, 3pts from 3rd at Q2.
Mar: 3rd, 3pts off 1st at Q3.
May: finished 1st, 2pts above 2nd at Q4.
23/24 odds at start: title 8-11 fav, top four 1-25 . sack PG 66/1 . expected to finish: top
run in from 30/3/24: Arsenal 0-0 (H), Villa 4-1 (H), Palace 2-4 (A), Luton 5-1 (H),
Brighton 0-4 (A), Forest 0-1 (A), Wolves 5-1 (H), Fulham 0-4 (A), Spurs 0-2 (A), West Ham 3-1 (H)
run in *forecast @ 29/3/24: 63pt > *86pts . max was 93 . Actual = 91 . Po was 3 . Actual po = 1

Season12, 6th Premier League (H) Wed 24/5/23 - D 1-1 ~ Enciso
This fixture became the last home game, having been postponed from late April due to both clubs FA Cup s-f apps at Wembley that same weekend. Six years ago in Aug '17 City had been the very first Prem visitors to the Amex for what was start of our journey in the elite league (see scroll below). After that opening loss we'd further got well beaten here in May '19 and Jul '20. Apart from an historic victory against them at the last home fixture during more pandemic crowd restrictions of May '21, we again suffered heavy domestic defeat against Citizens in Oct '21, tho then with a big attendance (seasons 7-11). So now it kinda begged the question; could Seagulls possibly prevent this term's champions scoring again? Albion's boss Roberto de Zerbi had faced City away when initially appointed back in September. He took the wider squad to Dubai for their warm-weather camp during the '22 World Cup finals in December. Similarly City players not at the WC knockouts trained in Abu Dhabi. Since then Albion had gotten up to 6th while City won the title yet again. Both clubs played separate Wembley s-f ties in the FA Cup. City reached the final but alas Albion didn't; beaten in a penalty shootout against United. City were in the Champions League final too, while Albion had made history and just qualified for a European competition next term. It was a sell-out on the night and our fanbase felt like we'd arrived as top-six participants in pukka fashion by right of passage. We'd surely gone from gutter to the stars.
*** match report: the good news is; Albion play in the Europa League next term. The better news is we matched Cityzens across the pitch and recorded an honourable draw against the super-club bidding to win 3 trophies very soon. Seagulls were unlucky to go behind at a counter attack with Steele left stranded (25mins). But Enciso next smashed in a long pot that found the top corner (38mins) - later motd goal of the season. The scores remained level afterwards but each side coulda won it. Welbeck hit the bar from a f-k, also clipped the ball in tho saw an offside flag, while Mitoma netted but it was given as handball. City put the ball in our net again too, although Ref went to the monitor and disallowed it due to a foul by their hit-man. All in all there was great entertainment and showed the Prem at footy best to a worldwide audience. Brighton were hopefully collecting additional fans from across the footballing globe. There was sure to be a big PR exercise in the States when we play there in July, to attract much more support - Am Ex are our shirt sponsors in case you need reminding. Seagulls are flying high in every sense and media praises use phrases like; a club on the rise. Yes, as they also say; these are special times. Can things get better? Brighton fans can hardly wait for Prem fixtures in June, close-season signings, pre-season & games in America, the new campaign ahead and... that Eu Lg group-stage schedule.
stats: ht 1-1, goals 38-25, poss 40%-60%, on 7-4, off 13-9, corners 5-1, fouls 16-11, yellows 2-1, subs 4-4, shape 4231-433
weather: mild . gate: 31,388 . MoM: Colwill - obv to sign him.
team: 23 Steele 13 Gross 29 van Hecke 6 Colwill 30 Estupinan 40 Buonanotte 27 Gilmour 25 Caicedo 22 Mitoma 18 Welbeck 20 Enciso
subs: 10 Mac Allister 52 (27), 28 Ferguson 52 (20), 34 Veltman 57 (40), 21 Undav 75 (18)
bench: 38 McGill (gk) 4 Webster 5 Dunk 26 Ayari 51 Peupion
injured: 2 Lamptey 7 March 14 Lallana 19 Sarmiento . squad: 1 Sanchez
Prem: P37 . W10 D4 L5 . F37 A21 . W8 D4 L6 . F34 A30 . Pt62 Po6 = 1.67pt/gm . W = 48.6% L = 29.7%

Quatr: Pl . W D L . . . F A GD . . Pt Po pt/gm . W% L%
total: 38 . 28 05 05 . 94 33 62 . 89 1 = 2.34 . 73.6 13.1 - P Guardiola
3qtrs: 29 . 21 04 04 . 75 27 48 . 67 2 = 2.31 . 72.4 13.7
hfwy: 19 . 13 03 03 . 50 20 30 . 42 2 = 2.21 . 68.4 15.7
start: 10 . 07 02 01 . 33 10 23 . 23 2 = 2.30 . 70.0 10.0 - P Guardiola
Champ Lg: final - Inter Milan w 1-0 . s-f - R Madrid 4-0 (H) 1-1 (A) . q-f - B Munich 1-1 (A) 3-0 (H) . 16 - RB Leipzig 7-0 (H) 1-1 (A)
gp - Sevilla 3-1 (H) 0-4 (A), B Dortmund 0-0 (A) 2-1 (H), Copenhagen 0-0 (A) 5-0 (H).
EFL Cup: Southampton 2-0 (A) q-f . Liverpool 3-2 (H) R4 . Chelsea 2-0 (H) R3.
FA Cup: Man Utd w 2-1 final . Sheff Utd 3-0 s-f . Burnley 6-0 (H) q-f . Bristol C 0-3 (A) R5 . Arsenal 1-0 (H) R4 . Chelsea 4-0 (H) R3.
Oct: 2nd in table, 4pts off 1st at Q1.
Jan: 2nd, 5pts off top at halfway stage Q2.
Apr: 2nd, 8pts behind 1st at three quarters stage Q3.
May: 1st again for 3 in a row, 5pts above 2nd at Q4. FA Cup & Ch Lg finals.
22/23 odds at start: title 4-7 fav, no trophies 3/1 . Sack PG 66/1 . Expected to finish: as champions.
Run in from 8/4/23: Southampton 1-4 (A), Leicester 3-1 (H), Arsenal 4-1 (H),
Fulham 1-2 (A), West Ham 3-0, Leeds 2-1 (H), Everton 0-3 (A), Chelsea 1-0 (H), Brighton 1-1 (A), Brentford 1-0 (A)
Run in *forecast @ 7/4/23: 67pt > *88pts . Max was 94 . Actual = 89 . Po was 2nd . Actual po = 1st

Season11, 5th Premier League (H) Sat 23/10/21 - L 1-4 ~ Mac Allister.
How could Albion possibly replicate that sensational result here late last term? As we now appoached end of this season's start, or first quarter (Q1), Seagulls still needed to get their rejuvenated act fully together. What few signing we'd made back in August to supplement a seriously thinned out squad had been kinda ok, without seriously damaging the old playing budget. In fact it was probably more of a bank account balancing exercise, following empty stadiums and dry revenue streams of pandemic proportions. City however spent large on merely one quality player (100m) during pre-season but failed to land that extra big-money striker by August deadline. Pep Guardiola was anyway anticipated to make best use of his huge three-team squad, available for the usual four simultaneous ongoing competitions in rotation. His choices were excessively permutational, strategically multi-functional and obsessively quality controlled. Oh btw, they flew 100 miles to their last away game. Losing wasn't an option on any account either.
*** match report: Albion crashed to defeat inside the first thirty minutes and it was largely of our own doing. Sanchez dropped a high ball early on and left a tap in (13min). Then Cityzens blasted an ultra quick counter that had us chasing shadows (28min). Next a deflected effort went past Sanchez, who had parried the original shot (31min). So it was all over bar checking of final goal difference. Visitors sat back in the second period and held Seagulls off knowing the game was up. Potter put on a double sub and tried to get a grip in midfield with a switch to 433. But all to no avail as chances came and went. Mac Allister converted a late pen (81min) as a consolation. Travellers netted another easy pop at the death (95min) to rack up four on the night. The problem was we were playing football outside their box, with little penetraion to count at the sharp end. And we missed a striker like Murray from days of yore, who would have got up to what crosses came in. But Potter wanted to go toe to toe on the deck and so suffered those consequences from difference in quality. He said; 'I'm so proud of my players. We can take something from that performance going forward.' All that sounded supportive, however Albion were seemingly in a false position and the fact was we hadn't scored regulaly in open play since the great get go last August. Potter had to address this deficiency and pdq if wanting to maintain an improvement across the season and not revert to more excuses for dropping off.
Stats: ht 0-3, goals 81-13,28,31,95, poss 48%-52%, on target 5-13, off target 4-3, blocks 1-7, corners 7-6, crosses 20-7, o/s 2-1, tackles 14-6, fouls 10-6, yellows 2-3, subs 3-3, shape 352-433
weather: cloudy . gate: 31,215, away 2999 . MoM: Cucurella - good skills.
team: 1 Sanchez, 34 Veltman, 5 Dunk, 33 Burn (2 Lamptey 57), 3 Cucurella, 13 Gross (10 Mac Allister 71), 14 Lallana Y, 15 Moder Y, 20 March,
11 Trossard, 9 Maupay (12 Mwepu 57) . bench: 23 Steele (gk), 4 Webster, 7 Connolly, 8 Bissouma, 24 Duffy, 30 Richards.
squad: 27 Locadia, 28 Roberts . injured: 17 Alzate, 18 Welbeck
Prem: P9 . W2 D1 L2 . F5 A7 . W2 D2 L0 . F4 A2 . Pt15 Po5 = 1.66pt/gm . W = 44.4% L = 22.2%

Quatr: Pl . W D L . . . F A GD . . Pt Po pt/gm . W% L%
Total: 38 . 29 06 03 . 99 27 73 . 93 1 = 2.44 . 76.3 07.8
3qtrs: 29 . 22 04 03 . 68 18 50 . 70 1 = 2.41 . 75.8 10.3
Hfwy: 19 . 15 02 02 . 50 12 38 . 47 1 = 2.47 . 78.9 10.5
Start: 10 . 06 02 02 . 20 06 14 . 20 3 = 2.00 . 60.0 20.0 - Pep Guardiola
Ch Lg: R Madrid 4-3 (H) 3-1 aet (A) s-f . A Madrid 1-0 (H) 0-0 (A) q-f . S Lisbon 0-5 (A) 0-0 (H) 16 .
PSG 2-0 (A) 2-1 (H), Leipzig 6-3 (H) 2-1 (A), Bruges 1-5 (A) 4-1 (H) gp.
EFL Cup: West Ham 5pen3 0-0 (A) R4, Wycombe 6-1 (H) R3.
FA Cup: Liverpool L 2-3 s-f . So'ton 1-4 (A) q-f . Peterbro 0-2 (A) R5 . Fulham 4-1 (H) R4 . Swindon 1-4 (A) R3.
Oct: 3rd in table, 5pts off top at Q1.
Jan: top and in clear air by 6pts at halfway Q2.
Mar: top, 4pts ahead at threequarters Q3. FAC & CL q-fs.
May: finished as champions on 93pt, 1pt ahead of runners up. FAC & CL s-fs.

Season10, 4th Premier League (H) Tue 18/5/21 - 3-2 ~ Trossard, Webster, Burn.
Attendance allowance of 7.9k home fans . (post-lockdowns, Tier 3/4/5 = 0 fans, T2 = 2000, T1 = 4000).
Full covid pandemic resrictions were relaxed for the final two Prem (H&A) matches, with crowd numbers here set at 25% capacity for only home support in a rescheduled midweek fixture. Fans applied for tickets via a ballot system of priority groups with staggered application deadlines. So it was the last live Amex fixture in a campaign that began in September. Brighton fans had witnessed a belated season's summer thrashing here last term, albeit from viewing tv broadcasts while locked out or down during that ever ongoing coronavirus crisis - see season9 below. Graham Potter learnt a lot from a curve that had taken him through ups & downs of being a rookie in the Prem. We were never going to match City by fair means or foul but such a big defeat was still hard to take given unusual times, empty domestic place of weekend worship and extended mitigating circumstances. So today's exercise was in being conscious of psychological moments, stadium atmosphere, prevailing skill sets and goal difference. We were tho entertaining new Prem champions, so deja vu seemed highly likely. However to what extent was latterly open to speculation, calculation and possible interjection from lady luck and/or fickle finger of fate.
*** match report: In the event Albion defied all odds and came from two goals down to net three times and record a famous victory in front of 7945 happy home fans. City scored almost from kickoff (2mins) and then had a 'last man' sent off, confirmed by VAR (10mins). Later Welbeck got injured and replaced by Trossard (30mins). After the interval Potter moved men around and set up to fight back. But the champions soon extended their lead and we were really up against it (48mins). Trossard next scored a great individual goal and blue & white quickly rallied (50min). With all subs on, Seagulls pressed forwards in search of an equaliser. Then Gross supplied a cross for Webster to head the leveller (72mins). Very soon afterwards Burn got his first goal for the club during a melee in City's area (76mins). With the crowd acting as twelfth man, Albion piled on possession and positive stats, while defending resolutely at counter attacks. At final whistle there were scenes of wild celebration as this shock result registered with those attending and the football world at large watching, listening to or reading media broadcasts. The game went into Sussex by the sea folklore and became the night BHA took a big step forward in the Prem. We'd reached equal points tally to last term and also those nine wins from each of our previous three PL campaigns. At this juncture it appeared the only way was, truly... up.
Stats: ht 0-1, goals 50,72,76-2,48, poss 63%-37%, on target 6-4, off target 4-2, corners 5-3, o/s 3-1, fouls 13-11, yellows 3-3, red 0-1, subs 3-3, shape 352-433 . Weather: dry
Team: 26 Sanchez, 3 White, 4 Webster, 33 Burn, 13 Gross, 8 Bissouma, 17 Alzate (29 Zeqiri 66), 15 Moder, 16 Jahanbakhsh Y (14 Lallana 49), 10 Mac Allister, 18 Welbeck (11 Trossard 29) . Bench: 23 Steele, 31 Walton, 6 Karbownik, 7 Connolly, 22 Tau, 25 Caicedo .
Squad: 19 Izquierdo, 21 Andone . Injured: 2 Lamptey, 20 March, 24 Propper, 34 Veltman . Ban: 5 Dunk, 9 Maupay . MoM: Webster.
Prem: P37 . W4 D9 L6 . F22 A22 . W5 D5 L8 . F18 A22 . Pt41 Po15 = 1.10pt/gm. Wins = 24.3%, Loss = 37.8%

Quatr: Pl . W D L . . . F A GD . Pt Po pt/gm . W% L%
Total: 38 . 27 05 06 . 83 32 51 . 86 1 = 2.26 . 71.0 15.7
3qtrs: 29 . 21 05 03 . 61 21 40 . 68 1 = 2.34 . 72.4 10.3
Hfwy: 19 . 12 05 02 . 36 13 23 . 41 1 = 2.15 . 63.1 10.5
Start: 10 . 05 03 02 . 17 11 06 . 18 7 = 1.80 . 50.0 20.0 - P Guardiola.
Champions League: final - L 0-1 Chelsea . s-f - PSG 1-2 (A) 2-0 (H) . q-f - B Dortmund 2-1 (H) 1-2 (A) . 16 - B M'gladbach 0-2 (A) 2-0 (H) .
group - Porto 3-1 (H) 0-0 (A), Olympiakos 3-0 (H) 0-1 (A), Marseille 0-3 (A) 3-0 (H).
EFL Cup: Spurs w 1-0 final, Man Utd 0-2 (A) s-f, Arsenal 1-4 (A) q-f, Burnley 0-3 (A) R4, Bournemouth 2-1 (H) R3.
FA Cup: Chelsea L 1-0 s-f, Everton 0-2 (A) q-f, Swansea 1-3 (A) R5, Cheltenham 1-3 (A) R4, Birmingham 3-0 (H) R3.
Nov: after the first quarter ended, City were 7th in the Prem table, 6pts behind the top two.
Jan: at the halfway stage City were top of the league by one point.
Mar: threequarters completed saw City way out in front and the title theirs to lose.
May: Prem champions at a stroll, EFL Cup winners yet again, Champions League runners up.

Season9, 3rd Premeir League (H) Sat 11/7/20 - L 0-5.
PL suspended until restarted 17/6/20 after Sat 25/4/20 postponed. Revised to a weekend evening fixture played behind closed doors without fans attending.
This was one of nine run-in matches postponed when the PL got suspended from mid March beyond usual May finish due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Also, hosting City was the penultimate home fixture and final one of four big-six sides BHA sequentially entertained during the run-in. The question was - where exactly were those extra survival points coming from?
*** match report: Albion didn't just lose they were blown away, thrashed, played off the park and humiliated by vastly superior opponents. And it was all down to the Potter ball method of taking the game to opposition and making them earn whatever they could. Well, it was just what City wanted, a nice open game where they could control play, show their football and run rings around a much less than very average side. BHA were never at the races, which is an appropriate phrase because we lack pace in most departments for sure. The team had a collective mare to boot. Potter didn't worry too much afterwards as he was thinking about the future. Albion would be in the div again due to having three worse sides below as usual. Brighton fans could see a clearout from the squad coming and hoped for Prem quality signings. The trouble was it takes time to build an outfit capable of competing in the elite and if not, it was merely a matter of seasons running out until inevitable relegation. Tony Bloom knew that when he fired Chris Hughton and is gambling on keeping enough edge to come out ahead in future. Only time will tell.
stats: shape 4222-43, ht 0-2, goals 21,44,53,56,81, poss 29%-71%, on target 0-8, off target 3-12, crosses 8-21, corners 2-7, o/s 6-1, blocks 0-6, tackles 12-17, fouls 7-3, yellows 1-0, subs - 5-5 (5/9) . MoM - Dunk . Gate - 0 . Weather - clear & mild.
1 Ryan, 22 Montoya (2 Lamptey 59), 15 Webster, 5 Dunk, 30 Bernardo, 18 Mooy, 24 Propper (6 Stephens 59), 8 Bissouma Y, 13 Gross
(33 Burn 77), 11 Trossaard (16 Jahanbakhsh 69), 44 Connolly (7 Maupay 59) . Subs (5/9) - 27 Button, 4 Duffy, 10 Mac Allister, 17 Murray.
Squad - 20 March, 21 Schelotto, 25 Kayal . Injured - 19 Izquierdo, 46 Alzate.
Prem: P35 . W5 D6 L7 . F20 A27 . W3 D6 L8 . F16 A25 . Pt36 Po15 = 1.02pt/gm. Wins = 22.8%, Loss = 42.8%

Quatr: Pl . W D L . . . F A GD . . Pt Po pt/gm . W% L%
Total: 38 . 26 03 09 . 102 35 67 . 81 2 = 2.13 . 68.4 23.6 - finish 27/7/20.
3qtrs: 29 . 19 03 07 .. 71 31 40 . 60 2 = 2.06 . 65.5 24.1 PREM SUSPENDED
Hfwy: 19 . 12 02 05 .. 52 23 29 . 38 3 = 2.00 . 63.1 26.3
Start: 10 . 07 01 02 .. 32 09 23 . 22 2 = 2.20 . 70.0 20.0 - P Guardiola.
Champions League: q-f - Lyon L 3-1. Last 16 - R Madrid 1-2 (A) 2-1 (H).
group - Shakhtar 1-1 (H) 0-3 (A), D Zagreb 2-0 (H) 1-4 (A), Atalanta 5-1 (H) 1-1 (A).
EFL Cup: final - Villa W 1-2, s-f - Man Utd 0-1 (H), 1-3 (A), q-f - Oxford 1-3 (A), 4th rnd - Southampton 3-1 (H), 3rd rnd - Preston 0-3 (A)
FA Cup: Arsenal L 2-0 s-f, Newcastle 0-2 (A) q-f, Sheff Wed 0-1 (A) R5, Fulham 4-0 (H) R4, Port Vale 4-1 (H) R3.
Aug; unbeaten but chasing Liverpool for top spot like last term.
Oct: steady second position but six points adrift by end of first quarter Q1.
New Year: chasing 2nd Prem club, qual for last 16 of Ch Lg and in FAC4 draw.
March: second in table but 25pts adrift when PL suspended. EFL Cup winners. Into FAC last eight. Last 16 Champ Lg.
July: conceded title to Liverpool by end of June. Runners up mid July. FAC s-f. Champions League ban overturned by CAS. Ch Lg q-f.

Season8 2nd Premier League (H) Sunday 12/5/19 - L 1-4 ~ Murray.
This was the very last game of all in the second PL campaign. And Albion had already played City twice this season; away in the first Prem fixture and recently in a FA Cup semi-final tie at Wembley during mid April - also see away section. The situation now was that BHA had already survived to figure a third term in the elite, while City had to equal rival Liverpool's score to take the title again.
*** match report: In a nutshell, Albion were thrashed and at end of the day, winners win and losers... Anyway, Seagulls opened the scoring from Murray at a Gross corner (27min) but after that it went downhill quickly. City equalised straight away (28min) and took the lead prior to halftime with a corner routine (38min). The second period was pretty much one way traffic and champions elect turned on the class to score twice again (63 & 72mins) and thus retain the title. Bruno was subbed late and received a standing ovation as he'd already announced his retirement before the match. Chris Hughton said, 'the summer will be big for us, to analyse where we could do better. We need to do better next year and will work hard to do that.' The next day he was sacked by Tony Bloom who said, 'I wish Chris, Paul (Trollope) and Paul (Nevin) every success for the future and thank them on behalf of everyone at the club.' Brighton fans were left in shock but by & large could understand Bloom's reasons for taking action, given his ambition to make Albion a regular Prem outfit. And not just fighting threats of the dreaded drop year on year. The club had come from 'gutter to the stars' right on thru this century and Bloom intended to remain comfortable in the elite for many a year to come.
Stats; ht 1-2, goals 27-28,38,63,72, shape 451-433, poss 24%-76%, on target 2-9, off target 4-11, o/s 1-1, corners 2-6, fouls 12-8, yellows 0-0, subs 3-3 . Gate 30,662 . Weather - sunny . MoM - Bruno
1 Ryan, 2 Bruno (22 Montoya 84), 4 Duffy, 5 Dunk, 30 Bernardo, 11 Knockaert, 13 Gross, 7 Kayal, 8 Bissouma, 16 Jahanbakhsh (9 Locadia 67), 17 Murray (10 Andone 67) . Subs - 27 Button, 3 Bong, 33 Burn, 49 Molumby.
Prem P38 . W6 D5 L8 . F19 A28 . W3 D4 L12 . F16 A32 . Pt36 Po17 = 0.94pt/gm. Wins = 23.6%, Loss = 52.6%

Season8 FA Cup S-F @ Wembley - 6/4/19 - L 1-0
See report in 'away' section below.

Quatr: Pl . W D L . . . F A GD . Pt Po pt/gm . W% L%
Total; 38 . 32 02 04 . 95 23 72 . 98 1 = 2.57 . 84.2 10.5
3qtrs; 29 . 23 02 04 . 76 20 56 . 71 1 = 2.44 . 79.3 13.7
Hfwy; 19 . 14 02 03 . 51 15 36 . 44 3 = 2.31 . 73.6 15.7 - Guardiola.
Start; 10 . 08 02 00 . 27 03 24 . 26 1 = 2.60 . 80.0 00.0
Champions League; qf - Spurs 1-0 (A) 4-3 (H), 16 - Schalke 2-3 (A) 7-0 (H).
group - Shaktar 0-3 (A) 6-0 (H), Lyon 1-2 (H) 2-2 (A), Hoffenheim 1-2 (A) 2-1 (H).
EFL Cup; won final - Chelsea 0-0 aet 4-3 pens, s-f - Burton 9-0 (H) 0-1 (A), q-f - Leics 1-3 pens 1-1 (A), 4th rnd - Fulham 2-0 (H),
3rd rnd - Oxford 0-3 (A)
FA Cup; won final - Watford 6-0, s-f - Brighton 1-0, q-f - Swansea 2-3 (A), 5th rnd - Newport 1-4 (A), 4th rnd - Burnley 5-0 (H),
3rd rnd - Rotherham 7-0 (H)
Aug; target - not lose anything home & abroad. Law of averages (for accumulators) decides which events effectively follow cause & effect.
October; unbeaten & vying at top of the table with title rivals Liverpool. Still in EFL Cup.
New Year; small dip in very best form but beat Liverpool and so challenging for top spot. FA Cup progress.
March; in a match with L'pool for title. Champ Lg q-f, FA Cup semis, EFL Cup winners.

Season7 1st Premier League (H) 12/8/17 - L 0-2.
It was a lovely day in August and Brighton fans began arriving at the Amex exterior concourses & internal bars during long hours prior to a Saturday teatime kickoff. Playing in the Premier League had become reality and this was opening day on a journey into the unknown. Chris Hughton, banked by Tony Bloom to the tune of 35million and counting, had gotten in several new faces from European footy. Maty Ryan, Pascal Gross, Markus Suttner & Davy Propper were four such players now debuting in the elite. Izzy Brown also came in on loan from Chelsea. Whether the squad as a whole could cut the mustard here and on the road in future was quite open to conjecture - bookies had BHA at 5-4 2nd fav to go down. But Chris Hughton was believably merely 20/1 to get sacked.
*** match report: Albion held out against title favs for 70 minutes before conceding and in truth never looked like they could compete over & above a hopeful stalemate. Brown was injured and replaced by Murphy halfway thru the initial period. Hughton swapped Hemed for Murray on the hour and immediately following the second goal, pulled off March for Knockaert. City caught Seagulls out of shape in m-f and had men spare to force the first score (70min). Dunk then headed past Ryan from a high centre five minutes later (75min). Both clubs were previously used to winning but expectation for the future was radically polarized today. The hosts were timid compared to visitors and most of the play was in Brighton's half. Speed of thought, action and execution prevailed from City's game plan. They pushed the ball about, patient for an opening to develop. When chances came they took them. It was a steep learning curve for BHA, club, team & fans alike.
Stats; shape 4411-3142, ht 0-0, goals 70,75, poss 22%-78%, on target 2-4, off target 2-5, blocks 2-5, crosses 8-27, corners 3-10, o/s 6-1,
tackles 11-10, fouls 6-9, yellows 0-2, subs 3-3 . Attendance 30,415 - ground record (away 3025).
1 Ryan, 2 Bruno, 22 Duffy, 5 Dunk, 29 Suttner, 20 March (11 Knockaert), 6 Stephens, 24 Propper,
37 Brown (15 Murphy), 13 Gross, 10 Hemed (17 Murray).
Prem P1 . W0 D0 L1 . F0 A2 . Pt0 Po19 = 0.00pt/gm . Wins = 0%, Loss = 100%

Quatr: Pl . W D L . . . F A GD . . Pt Po pt/gm . W% L%
Total; 38 . 32 04 02 .106 27 79 .100 1 = 2.63 . 84.2 05.2 - Pep Guardiola.
3qtrs; 29 . 25 03 01 . 83 20 63 . . 78 1 = 2.68 . 86.2 03.4
Hfwy; 19 . 18 01 00 . 60 12 48 . . 55 1 = 2.89 . 94.7 00.0
Start; 10 . 09 01 00 . 35 06 29 . . 28 1 = 2.80 . 90.0 00.0
Aug - a big bid for the title, get to finals abroad and picking up the odd cup too.
New Year - all the four trophies are still a possiblity.
March - title in the bag. EFL Cup finalists. Knocked out of FA Cup by a League One side. Champions League Q-F.

MAN CITY away:
Seasn . W D L . F A GD . Pt Po pt/gm %Pt . W% L%
24/25 - 08 5 6 . 29 21 08 . 29 3 = 1.52 40.8 . 42.1 31.5 - Pep Guardiola @ 25/5/25
23/24 - 14 2 3 . 45 18 27 . 44 1 = 2.31 48.3 . 73.6 15.7 - Pep Guardiola
22/23 - 11 4 4 . 34 16 18 . 37 1 = 1.94 41.5 . 57.8 21.0 - Pep Guardiola
21/22 - 14 4 1 . 41 11 30 . 46 1 = 2.42 49.4 . 77.7 05.5 - Pep Guardiola
20/21 - 14 3 2 . 40 15 25 . 45 1 = 2.36 52.3 . 73.6 10.5 - Pep Guardiola.
19/20 - 11 1 7 . 45 22 23 . 34 2 = 1.78 41.9 . 57.8 36.8 - Pep Guardiola, finish 25/7/20.
18/19 - 14 2 3 . 38 11 27 . 44 1 = 2.31 44.8 . 73.6 15.7 - Pep Guardiola.
17/18 - 16 2 1 . 45 13 32 . 50 1 = 2.63 50.0 . 84.2 05.2 - Pep Guardiola.
16/17 - 12 2 5 . 43 22 21 . 38 3 = 2.00 48.7 . 63.1 26.3 - Pep Guardiola.
15/16 - 07 7 5 . 24 20 04 . 28 4 = 1.47 42.4 . 36.8 26.3 - Manuel Pellegrini.
14/15 - 10 4 5 . 39 24 15 . 34 2 = 1.78 43.0 . 52.6 26.3 - Manuel Pellegrini.
13/14 - 10 4 5 . 39 24 15 . 34 1 = 1.78 39.5 . 52.6 26.3 - Manuel Pellegrini.

MAN CITY PREVIOUS PREM; podiums
24/25 - Liverpool Arsenal Man City
23/24 - Man City Arsenal Liverpool . 22/23 - Man City Arsenal Man Utd . 21/22 - Man City Liverpool Chelsea .
20/21 - Man City, Man Utd, Liverpool . 19/20 - Liverpool, Man City, Man Utd . 18/19 - Man City, Liverpool, Chelsea .
17/18 - Man City, Man Utd, Tottenham . 16/17 - Chelsea, Spurs, Man City . 14/15 - Chelsea, Man City, Arsenal .
13/14 - Man City, Liverpool, Chelsea . 12/13 - Man Utd, Man City, Chelsea . 11/12 - Man City, Man Utd, Arsenal.
Prem points: 89, 78, 86, 79, 66, 78, 100, 98, 81 / 86, 93, 89, 91, 71
recent managers; Pep Guardiola (2016), Manuel Pelligrini (13-16), Roberto Mancini (09-13).
Pep Guardiola (2016) - P472 W = 72.6% @ July '24 . experience: seen it, done it, got a whole lot of t-shirts.

Seasn . W D L . F A GD . Pt Po pt/gm . W% L%
24/25 - 21 08 09 . 72 44 28 . 71 3 = 1.86 . 55.2 23.6 - Pep Guardiola @ 25/5/25
Made the podium and Champ's Lg once more.
23/24 - 28 7 3 . 96 34 62 . 91 1 = 2.37 . 73.6 07.8 - Pep Guardiola @ 20/5/24
Gained a historic fourth straight title after a three-way fight for podium top step.
22/23 - 28 5 5 . 94 33 61 . 89 1 = 2.34 . 73.6 13.1 - Pep Guardiola @ 28/5/23
Chased leaders all thru the campaign and finally went ahead during the run in.
21/22 - 29 6 3 . 99 26 73 . 93 1 = 2.44 . 76.3 07.8 - Pep Guardiola @ 22/5/22.
Won the title on the final day, coming back from two goals down at home.
20/21 - 27 5 6 . 83 32 51 . 86 1 = 2.26 . 71.0 15.7 - Pep Guardiola @ 24/5/21
Almost a complete campaign as City ended as PL champions, Champions League finalists, EFL Cup winners and FA Cup semi-finalists.
19/20 - 26 3 9 .102 35 67 . 81 2 = 2.13 . 68.4 23.6 - Pep Guardiola. PL SUSPENDED, complete @ 27/7/20
City played super football, so it was unexpected to find they'd lost several matches in chasing a possible third title.
18/19 - 32 2 4 . 95 23 72 . 98 1 = 2.57 84.2 10.5 - Pep Guardiola.
A mega season recorded by any Prem standards, including winning FA Cup & League Cup to boot.
17/18 - 32 4 2 .106 27 79 .100 1 = 2.64 . 84.2 05.2 - Pep Guardiola.
PG burst onto the Prem scene last season with a big reputation in Europe. In the event things went from being a tad flat to the Spaniard now crowned king of the Prem at very least.
16/17 - 23 9 6 . 80 39 41 . 78 3 = 2.05 . 60.5 15.7 - Pep Guardiola.
Team, manager & fans expected success, so was 3rd place a disappointment and no cups to boot? Bet your bottom Euro it was!
15/16 - 19 9 10 . 71 41 30 . 66 4 = 1.73 . 50.0 26.3 - Manuel Pelligrini.
Finishing fourth as Citizens commitment to the cause imploded, highlighted the end for the manager after a 3 year turn on the Manchester merrygoround.
14/15 - 24 7 7 . 83 38 45 . 79 2 = 2.07 . 63.1 18.4 - Manuel Pelligrini.
The Chilean coach was runner-up but Citizens were apparently nowhere as 2nd best, in a division where no.1 is all & everything.
13/14 - 27 5 6 . 102 37 65 . 86 1 = 2.26 . 71.0 15.7 - Manuel Pelligrini.
Critics of Roberto Mancini's 12/13 squad expansion & management, or rather supposed lack of both, were placated by 'better' results from equally capable Manuel Pelligrini.
12/13 - 23 9 6 . 66 34 32 . 78 2 = 2.05 . 60.5 15,7
11/12 - 28 5 5 . 93 29 64 . 89 1 = 2.34 . 73.6 13.1

FA CUP from 11/12; 3rd rnd, final, q-f, 4th, 5th, s-f, 5th, winners, s-f, s-f, s-f, winners, runners up, runners up.
LEAGUE CUP; s-f, 3rd rnd, winners, 3rd, winners, 4th, winners, winners, winners, winners, 4th, q-f, 3rd, 4th.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE; gp, gp, last 16, last 16, s-f, last 16, q-f, q-f, q-f, runners up, s-f, winners, q-f, p-o.
* * * * *

Falmer years: 6 seasons from 2011 to 2017, no meetings.

Withdean Era: 12 seasons from 1999 to 2011 -
Season10 24/9/08 (H) - EFL Cup R2, BHA win 5pen3 2-2 aet.
A night to remember and some, at the atmospheric theatre of trees.

Man City - Away, Falmer years:
Prem 17/18-25/26, seasons 7-15 . . '19 FA Cup.

City v Albion (A) from 17/18: 3-1 2-0 4-0 1-0 3-0 3-1 2-1 2-2 . . W = 0 D = 1 L = 7 . F3 A18
scorers: Ulloa Trossard Fati Estupinan og
memorable match: Season9 (A) - early in the season and a lesson in what standards are required.
note: for home Falmer Years results & reports scroll further up.

Season15, 9th Premier League (A) Wed 7/1/26 - tba
This was our 11th away game, played in early Jan. Last term we drew here for a lll lll ld sequence - see seasons below. Albion hoped to avoid yet another defeat. Hosts PL home wins total was 79.6% for that 8yr period. Their current home form; w d l = %. The reverse fixture was at end of Aug - see home scroll above. At present BHA were ?th and MC ?th. At halfway we were ?th and they were ?th. Topical talking points: tba
*** report: tba
stats: ht, goals, poss %-% on target, off target, corners, fouls, yellows, subs, shape
weather: . MoM:
team:
subs:
bench:
squad: . injured:
Prem P21 . W D L . F A . W D L . F A . Pt Po = 1.xxpt/gm . W = % L = %

Season14, 8th Premier League (A) Sat 15/3/25 - 2-2 ~ Estupinan og
This reciprocal mid Mar '25 three-quarters stage fixture was the 15th of 19 away, prior to the run in (Q4). The reverse game was 9 Nov '24 to begin the second quarter (Q2) - see home scroll further above. We had lost both matches last season during Oct '23 (A) & Apr '24 (H), scoring only once. Last term we'd met here during mid October '23 when twice conceding early to the podium-bound undefeated home outfit. At the halfway stage (Q2) we had 27pts and they had 31pts. Now at this later 3/4 stage (Q3) we had 46pts and they had 47pts. Our Prem record at the Etihad versus Citizens was; lll lll l - in all seven seasons to date. Not a single point had been earned. Current away form was; W6 D4 L4 F25 A24 - good returns. Hosts home form was: W8 D2 L3 F28 A17 - strong domestically. At the moment Brighton were 7th, while City were 5th from 28 games played. At the halfway stage we were 10th and they were 6th. In the last three campaigns we'd been 9, 6 & 8 at the halfway stage and finished 9, 6 & 11. Albion were looking to avoid yet another defeat against these serial title holders. But Citizens were ko'd competing in the Champions League in the last 16. Their boss Pep Guardiola had added 5 new players in the January window - spending big money to shore up flagging results. In the forthcoming FA Cup q-f ties; we drew Forest (H) and they got B'mouth (A). Headline news this week was could Albion possibly win here for once and so extend our unbeaten Feb/Mar sequence prior to that all-important run-in from April?
*** match report: Albion gained a very first point at City to maintain their unbeaten run going into the international break. The Champs took the lead from the penalty spot early into the first half when Webster erroneously dived in (11mins). Then Estupinan got his first score for the season when curving in a f-k off the post from outside the box (21mins). But Seagulls fell behind again from a bullet strike down range (39mins). On turnaround yellow shirts immeiately went in search of a second equaliser. Soon Hinshelwood got forward and his try was deflected into goal by a defender (48mins). Impact subs arrived late in the afternoon to keep pedal to the metal. In an open contest both elevens had further attempts to get ahead. But it ended even steven for all that huff & puff, Travelling support left the stadium knowing we'd fought for the point and defended well when hosts threatened. We'd tried to hit them on the break tho no more efforts crossed the line. Ok we'd take the score draw and move on to April. Football is a match of opportunities and Brighton were creating enough to give hope for another sequence of good results during the run-in ahead.
stats: ht 2-1, goals 11,39-21,48, poss 60%-40%, on target 303, off target 8-12, corners 4-5, fouls 10-10, yellows 2-5, subs 2-5, shape 4231-4231
weather: cold . gate: ? . MoM: van Hecke - great defending.
team: 1 Verbruggen 41 Hinshelwood 29 van Hecke 4 Webster 30 Estupinan 17 Minteh 20 Baleba 25 Gomez 22 Mitoma 14 Rutter 9 Pedro
subs: 26 Ayari 76 (25), 18 Welbeck 76 (14), 8 Gruda 83 (17), 11 Adingra 83 (22), 27 Wieffer 87 (20)
bench: 39 Rushworth (gk) 16 Cashin 53 Slater 57 Knight
squad: 2 Lamptey 7 March 37 McGill (gk) . injured: 5 Dunk 24 Kadioglu 33 O'Riley 34 Veltman .
rehab: 3 Julio 6 Milner 23 Steele . ool: 10 Enciso 28 Ferguson .
left: 15 Moder 32 Peupion 44 McConville 45 Boaitey 46 Ifill 47 Samuels 48 Turns
Prem P29 . W6 D6 L2 . F21 A16 . W6 D4 L4 . F25 A24 . Pt47 Po7 = 1.62pt/gm . W = 41.3% L = 20.6%

Season13, 7th Premier League (A) Sat 21/10/23 - L 2-1 ~ Fati
Back during mid summer's pre-season build up City played 3 Asia friendlies in national stadiums; two at Tokyo and one in Seoul. They beat both Yokohama 3-5 & B Munich 1-2 in Japan but lost to A Madrid 1-2 in S Korea. Next up was Arsenal in the Community Shield - L 4pen1 1-1. Then beat Sevilla - 5pen4 1-1 in the Uefa super cup. By finishing 6th (62pts) last term Albion were 27pts behind these regular Prem champions, 1st (89pts). Since joining the elite, Albion were 15, 17, 15, 16, 9, 6, while MC were 1, 1, 2, 1, 1, 1. Hosts expected to take the title once more come May. Our Prem record at the Etihad versus Cityzens was; lll lll in all six seasons to date. A string of straight defeats makes for 360 degrees of difficult reading. We'd racked up 4 fail to score & 2 single score stats thus far. Today's fixture followed on from the second International break. Going into this Oct match BHA were 6th and MC were 3rd after 8 games played. The giant northwest outfit had spent 217m in the Aug transfer window on 4 buys. At present in Europe City headed their Champ's Lg group, being unbeaten in two ties. Pep Guardiola was a household name outside Manchester, England, Europe and worldwide, so the coaching genius surely had to be self-motivated par excellence once again. Based on previous meetings Brighton were now looking to avoid yet another serious serial defeat at City.
match report: Albion lost the game before twenty minutes in and did not give travelling support much to shout about during a turgid first forty-five. City scored so easily at 7&19 mins that we wondered if another big beating was ahead thru a whole hour or so remaining. After turnaround City didn't have to be gung ho coz points were in the bag already. Seagulls plugged away until finally notching one. Super-sub Fati booted the ball home from hosts defensive mistake (73mins). Visitors usual late rally eventually got into gear but we were chasing the game again and it all came down to nowt. And a second consecutive Prem defeat on the road added up to four away matches since our last win across all competitions. De Zerbi was concerned with our injury list; having Welbeck subbed very early and March carried off in stoppage time. The squad is small, of limited experience and trying to adapt to extra UEL group contests before the run up to that busy period over Xmas. Plus BHA do have several players picked for various international duties - with the Africa tournament of nations to come during mid season. On balance of probabilities we were kinda retreating from all fronts. Time would tell if this attrition resulted in gradually halting sensational progress gained thru the era of De Zerbi's generalship.
stats: ht 2-0, goals 7,19-73, poss 55%-45%, on target 6-3, off target 4-2, corners 2-2, fouls 9-11, yellows 3-2, red 1-0, subs 3-5, shape 3241-4231
weather: autumn . gate: 53,466, away 3022 . MoM: Steele - kept score down
team: 23 Steele 6 Milner 5 Dunk 3 Julio 7 March 23 Adingra 20 Baleba 13 Gross 22 Mitoma 18 Welbeck 9 Pedro
subs: 28 Ferguson 16 (18), 34 Veltman 45 (6), 31 Fati 66 (9), 11 Gilmour 66 (20), 29 van Hecke 93 (7)
bench: 1 Verbruggen 4 Webster 8 Dahoud 14 Lallana
squad: 15 Moder 40 Buonanotte . injured: 2 Lamptey 10 Enciso 30 Estupinan
Prem P9 . W3 D1 L1 . F13 A8 . W2 D0 L2 . F9 A10 . Pt16 Po7 = 1.77pt/gm . W = 55.5% L = 33.3%

Season12, 6th Premier League (A) Sat 22/10/22 - L 3-1 ~ Trossard
This fixture began the sixth campaign's second quarter (Q2). The obvious stand-out stat from five consecutive losing trips to the Etihad was high negative goal diff: F1 A13 (see away scroll below). So just what could be done about it now, in terms of preventing a much bigger tally accumulating against, or possibly even reducing that huge sum deficit? The losing run had begun in May '18, before continuing in Sept '18, resumed a year later in Aug '19, restarted in Jan '21 then onto Apr '22 - each significant defeats (seasons 7-11). Any aforesaid season, measured both numerically (annual fixture) or barometrically (variable with Manchester climate), didn't appear to affect a resulting negative constant throughout that testing period. There wasn't even an intricate conundrum to solve; only cold, stark, harsh facts & figs to digest. And for a bonus Graham Potter had left in early Sept, so could winless new coach Roberto de Zerbi get a right result with merely a very few weeks Prem experience? He'd been doing things low key so far, selecting Potter's starting eleven, hardly using subs and generally playing a game of conventional Prem soccer. Nobody could accuse him of being cavalier as he learnt this elite trade on the job. Also for the record, City spent 93m by start of the season. This included laying out over 50 mill for the top striker in Europe. Well, what exactly did you expect?
*** match report: that top striker in Europe did for us in a game marred by VAR interjection and a homer Ref. De Zerbi set BHA up to go man-on-man and for a while it worked ok at keeping to nil-nil. Then a route one punt was chased down by host's big guy up front and he bulldozed a path past flapping Seagulls to score into an empty net (22min). Next Ref got called to the monitor and again that Prem leading scorer clinically dispatched the pen (43min). After turnaround visitors hit back when Trossard struck a drive inside the near post (53min). Albion were getting to grips with finding an equaliser but it never happened. Before too long City wrapped it all up with one of their trademark superb moves & finishes (75min). De Zerbi put on 5 subs as he'd nowt to lose by making changes rather than plodding on with the same starting eleven. RdZ was pleased with the overall performance, work rates and levels of application. Brighton fans weren't too disappointed either, although officials were clearly a source of away irritation at another big-six ground - where elite stars are treated leniently. The trouble is we have to be at very top of our game for 90+mins to stay in it anyway. Brighton has a small selectable squad and certainly no prolific scorer shouldering much of the heavy lifting. In fact if our defence is breached more than once there's likelihood all points are lost coz of lack of multiple goals. It is a forlorn hope RdZ by coaching alone can alter goal-scoring ratios of the regular first eleven anytime soon. The future appears to lie in bringing on proven talent from lesser levels, or buying from scouting missions to uncover a pukka developing striker. BHA can't sustain a consistent top ten berth unless those For & Against historical goals columns are rebalanced - from negative to positive sum totals. Seasonal final positions are determined by these accumulations, for better or worse in a results driven business. Well, it's only what would be expected.
stats: ht 2-0, goals 22,43,75-53, poss 48%-52%, on 4-2, off 3-3, blocks 3-3, o/s 0-4, corners 7-3,
tackles 13-16, fouls 11-12, yellows 1-3, subs 3-5, shape 433-3421
weather: mild . gate: 53,233 away 2837 . MoM: Caicedo - strong display
team: 1 Sanchez 34 Veltman 5 Dunk 4 Webster 7 March 10 Mac Allister 25 Caicedo 14 Lallana 13 Gross 18 Welbeck 11 Trossard.
subs: 2 Lamptey 45 (14), 30 Estupinan 66 (34), 21 Undav 79 (18), 19 Sarmiento 87 (13), 27 Gilmour 87 (10)
bench: 23 Steele 6 Colwill 20 Enciso 29 van Hecke
injured: 22 Mitoma . rehab: 15 Moder . squad: 28 Ferguson
Prem: P11 . W2 D2 L1 . F6 A3 . W2 D1 L3 . F9 A11 . Pt15 Po8 = 1.36pt/gm . W = 36.3% L = 36.3%

Season11, 5th Premier League (A) Wed 20/4/22 - L 3-0
This midweek evening contest got rescheduled due to a clash with City's FA Cup q-f tie played on the original fixture's mid March weekend. In the event it became our third straight game on the road in 12 days. Beforehand Albion registered the first two as away wins - at Arsenal & Spurs, so arrived in confident mood. But previous form here at the Etihad was dire and in need of drastic improvement. Four away defeats in as many years and ten goals conceded didn't sort of inspire much confidence in turning things around today. But never say never, or maybe bite your tongue and keep mum. The run-in was well under way now and there were three precious points available for a kickoff. Those gods of football knew games often turned on an incident, maybe in an instant, via deflection or rub of the green, whether VAR checked, or merely left up to Ref's initial call. Meanwhile City were involved in another title scrap, plus an upcoming Champion's League s-f - and hoping to win both competitions. This was merely the stuff of dreams for loyal & vocal travelling Brighton fans.
*** match report: City won again and their difference in class got enhanced by a couple of slices of good luck at many goal attempts. The first half was actually goalless and Albion did a fair job in keeping hosts out of the danger area. But soon after turnaround a quick counter saw locals lead when the ball deflected past Sanchez (53min). A little over ten minutes later they went two up when a shot from distance diverted past our goalie again (65min). The third goal came following errors at the back as Seagulls ran out of puff and spaces opened up (82min). Potter wasn't too downbeat coz he likes to take the positves and at end of the night we at least gave 'em a half-decent game. Brighton fans could accept our team had tried hard and put in a shift to boot. The squad was small and with 20 man match-day teamsheets, we had 5 kids on the bench - including a third keeper. Everybody understands it's about the future, which at BHA gives opportunities to youngsters gotten from abroad and/or local thru U23s. The message to take ahead is onwards & upwards.
Stats: ht 0-0, goals 53,65,82, poss 65%-35%, on target 5-1, off target 12-1, corners 7-4, fouls 12-7, yellows 0-3, subs 3-3, shape 433-352
weather: dry, mild . gate: 54,013 (away 832) . MoM: Dunk - marshaled defence.
team: 1 Sanchez, 34 Veltman, 5 Dunk Y, 3 Cucurella, 2 Lamptey (4 Webster Y 61), 12 Mwepu, 10 Mac Allister Y, 25 Caicedo (60 Sarmiento 73),
20 March, 13 Gross, 18 Welbeck (9 Maupay 77) . bench: 23 Steele (gk), 38 McGill (gk), 14 Lallana, 42 Leonard, 57 Offiah, 58 Ferguson.
squad: 17 Alzate, 24 Duffy . injured: 15 Moder . ban 8 Bissouma.. ill: 11 Trossard
Prem: P33 . W3 D6 L7 . F10 A20 . W6 D7 L4 . F19 A20 . Pt40 Po10 = 1.21pt/gm . W = 27.2% L = 33.3%

Season10, 4th Premier League (A) Wed 13/1/21 - L 1-0
Covid restrictions - lockdown3, no fans attending (Tier 3/4/5).
This midweek fixture quickly followed the third pause (for weekend FA Cup ties) during a Prem campaign which had started in mid September, a month late, compared to normally. That was because of delayed completion of the previous season due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic - see season9 in the home section above. Any trip to the light blue part of Manchester during previous Prem seasons hadn't gendered much optimism to anticipate positive returns ahead of this fourth visit. Cause for concern was the number of goals conceded in past fixtures compared to how many Albion might score. Putting these stats aside, Graham Potter was charged with getting better results this season from his preferred method of play. That meant going forward as a team on the pitch and off it too. Thus his dilemma today was along lines of balancing this result against satisfactory levels of performance and ongoing degrees of confidence. Before kickoff Albion were currently struggling again at this grade and therefore Potter was already up against it to receive any kind of positive plaudits for what happened next. The transfer window was open but BHA got a no show return as we went to press, albeit Percy Tau had returned from on loan in Belgium.
*** match report: Albion lost again, an eighth defeat this term so far and are only hanging on to 17th by skin of proverbial teeth. It wasn't that Seagulls played badly, in fact we'd held our own. But over a full 90+ minutes something was always gonna give at the back. City scored just prior to halftime with a trademark smart move (44min). They continued with better stats throughout to nick a single goal victory by law of averages. Albion drew a blank, a fail to score stat and thereby hangs the tale of why we're now in 17th position looking over shoulders. The hard truth is that deserving to get something is not the same as actually getting a point and we can't keep using this old excuse for failing to reach a basic 20 points by the halfway stage of 19 games completed. Back in September BHA analysis guys wouldn't have marked this fixture down for +3pts, so the rot musta set in awhile ago on the long road to Prem survival. The question now was, what was Bloom, Ashworth, Potter and other usual suspects gonna do about it?
Stats: ht 1-0, goal 44, poss 65%-35%, on target 6-1, off target 10-4, o/s 2-2, corners 8-4, fouls 4-12, yellows 0-2, subs 2-3, shape 433-433 . Weather: wet.
Team: 26 Sanchez, 34 Veltman Y, 4 Webster Y, 5 Dunk, 33 Burn, 3 White, 24 Propper (20 March 68), 30 Bernardo, 22 Tau (9 Maupay 68),
10 Mac Allister, 11 Trossard (67 Khedra 86) . Subs: 31 Walton, 41 Sanders, 47 Jenks, 29 Zeqiri . Squad: 1 Ryan, 23 Steele, 15 Moder,
19 Izquierdo . Injured: 2 Lamptey, 7 Connolly, 14 Lallana, 16 Jahanbakhsh, 17 Alzate, 18 Welbeck . Ban: 8 Bissouma . MoM: Mac Allister
Prem: P18 . W0 D5 L4 . F10 A15 . W2 D3 L4 . F11 A14 . Pt14 Po17 = 0.77pt/gm. Wins = 11.1%, Loss = 44.4%

Season9, 3rd Premier League (A) Sat 31/8/19 - L 4-0.
The good news beforehand was we'd get this tough away match put to bed very early on our excursions. The bad news was BHA were scheduled to visit four more top-six giants by first week of December and the fifth on Boxing Day. That meant a long first-half haul, in all senses, to go gather such invaluable points from travels on the road. In fact Chelsea were scheduled next month and then from early Nov things looked difficult. Man Utd, Liverpool & Arsenal came in an away row to further test team & travelling support on the biggest metropolitan PL stages.
*** match report: Goals went into Albion's net at 2,42,55 & 79 minutes to not only test belief but also credibility in the method employed under Potter for advancing BHA on the long road ahead toward a proposed future 'top-half' Prem position. We know each journey begins with a single step but this appeared one giant leap for Seagulls-kind at such an early stage in progression. Tony Bloom, his face alternately a blue & white vision of exasperation & agony in many a directors box last term, wanted positive change to match such lofty ambition. But like supportive Brighton fans, could merely put on a brave smile today. It wasn't that Albion just parked the bus or couldn't play offensive football, indeed even Pep Guardiola was full of praise, however one thing stood out... no goals scored. So in a sense this became a practice match, irrespective of the result, in order to get up to speed for meeting teams (apart from top six) we might actually take points from over coming months. Potter said, 'the performance was one of real courage. We wanted to test ourselves against the very best and can take something from it.' All very well but reducing the title-holders possession to nearer parity wasn't enough to hold back the onrushing tide of meaningful, direct & high quality goal-scoring options. Against lesser opposition we'd surely need to keep a clean sheet. And to win, find the net by any means available. No strategy could define how many goals any particular set-up could get, that was down to individuals capable of doing such at this level.
Stats; shape 433-541, h-t 2-0, goals 2,42,55,79, poss 54%-46%, on target 6-2, off target 8-1, blocks 1-3, crosses 15-10, corners 8-1, o/s 1-3, tackles 15-17, fouls 10-6, yellows 1-1, subs 3-3 . Gate 54,386, away 1506 . Weather - sun & showers . MoM - Stephens.
1 Ryan, 22 Montoya, 15 Webster, 5 Dunk Y, 33 Burn, 30 Bernardo (17 Murray 67), 11 Trossard (13 Gross 74), 6 Stephens, 24 Propper, 20 March, 7 Maupay (44 Connolly 67) . Subs - 27 Button, 4 Duffy, 18 Mooy, 16 Jahanbakhsh.
Ban - 10 Andone . Squad - 3 Bong, 8 Bissouma, 14 Balogun . Injured - 19 Izquierdo, 21 Schelotto.
Prem P4 . W0 D1 L1 . F1 A3 . W1 D0 L 1. F3 A4 . Pt4 Po16 = 1.00pt/gm. Wins = 25%, Loss = 50%

Season8 (A) FA Cup semi-final @ Wembley - 6/4/19 - L 1-0.
The story so far was that previously Albion had fortunately beaten Championship strugglers Millwall at the Den on penalties aet in the q-f tie to reach the final four. They then were last ball out of the draw bowl and therefore pitched against mighty City by default. But it hadn't been too hard a pathway to get here, as apart from beating Lions, Seagulls had also serially defeated fellow level2 outfits Rams at the Amex, Baggies aet in replay at the Hawthorns and PL club Cherries at the Vitality stadium to boot. Those 4 victories had seen us progress with more than a fair sprinkling of good luck and now many considered this an early evening bit of indulgence wearing blue & white (we won that toss at least), being up for the cup at Wembley but with very little hope of returning to the national stad during May.
*** match report: Albion got knocked out in the first five minutes. Clinical play thru our gaps got City the winner early doors (4min). But Seagulls, backed by around 35k fans in the national stadium, didn't fold and tried to make a game of it. We were on a hiding to nothing either way but strung a few passes together when not actually defending. Hughton put Andone, Izquierdo & Locadia into the mix, although getting a goal back seemed just as hard at the end as beginning. Duffy pushed up late with twin strikers but to no avail for netting an equaliser. Hughton said, 'we have done especially well to regroup after going behind so early. I can't believe there were too many people thought they wouldn't win two or three nil. It's incredibly difficult against them. If you open up thinking to score 2 or 3, they will score 5 or 6.' Brighton fans had a nice day out, applauded the team at the death with a standing ovation then discussed the forthcoming Prem survival battle at the Amex next week.
Stats; ht 1-0, goal 4, shape 433-4141, poss 70%-29%, on target 4-2, off target 5-3, blocks 4-0, o/s 0-1, crosses 30-15, corners 9-4, tackles 15-9, fouls 13-7, yellows 2-2, subs 3-3 . MoM - Knockaert . Gate; 72,521 away 34,155 . Weather - cool & dry.
1 Ryan, 22 Montoya, 4 Duffy, 5 Dunk Y72, 30 Bernardo, 8 Bissouma (Locadia 82), 6 Stephens, 24 Propper, 11 Knockaert,
17 Murray (10 Andone 65), 16 Jahanbakhsh Y32 (19 Izquierdo 70) . Subs - 27 Button, 2 Bruno, 3 Bong, 33 Burn.

Season8 2nd Premier League (A) Sat 29/9/18 - L 2-0.
Games at title holders don't come much harder, considering Albion's opening 2 months fixtures this term. We'd already played Man Utd 3-2, Fulham 2-2 & Spurs 1-2 (H), Watford 2-0, Liverpool 1-0 & Soton 2-2 (A) and now visited City, just a few weeks since being outclassed here at very end of last term. History suggested another defeat but each game started back at zero, so in a sense what happened previously was only on paper, rather than grass. BHA was behind schedule points-wise, being less than 1pt/gm minimum average, therefore needed to try and keep a first clean sheet for a start.
*** match report: Everything changes and nothing changes, in so far as it was early in the season rather than late but the result was yet another away defeat. City ran rings round us, especially on the counter which provided both goals. Seagulls defended desperately at times but sheer weight of stats told against holding it down to nil-nil. And up front we didn't turn up again. The first went in after losing the ball going forward and chasing back to no avail when outpaced (29min). The second was a similar burst of speed with tiki-taka movement as per Guardiola's Barca mantra (65min). Albion offered little in offensive opposition. Hughton introduced 3 late subs but the game was up well prior to a trademark token effort by visitors at the death. Hughton said, 'you can get beat big here. I'm most disappointed with their second - we should have stopped it.' Brighton fans could see the gulf in quality and were coming to realise what was required at this level just to stay in the game, let alone score goals. We hoped BHA squad players would take those standards on board as well.
Stats; shape 433-451, h-t 1-0, goals 29,65, poss 80%-20%, on target 8-1, off target 13-1, blocks 7-2, crosses 29-8, corners 10-3, o/s 0-2,
tackles 15-15, fouls 4-10, yellows 0-3, subs 3-3 . Gate 54,152, away 2809.
1 Ryan, 22 Montoya Y87, 4 Duffy Y42, 5 Dunk, 3 Bong, 11 Knockaert Y9 (16 Jahanbakhsh 79), 7 Kayal, 8 Bissouma, 24 Propper,
20 March (19 Izquierdo 84), 9 Locadia (17 Murray 70) . Subs - 27 Button, 2 Bruno, 30 Bernardo, 14 Balogun.
Prem P7 . W1 D1 L1 . F6 A6 . W0 D1 L 3. F2 A7 . Pt5 Po14 = 0.71pt/gm. Wins = 14.2%, Loss = 57.1%

Season7 1st Premier League (A) Wednesday 9/5/18 - L 3-1 ~ Ulloa.
This fixture was originally listed for Sat 17 March but got rescheduled due to Albion's FAC Q-F tie played on that date and then delayed yet again because of City's busy Champions League commitments. In the event BHA latterly went to the runaway title winners already safe from the drop and not needing any points at all to stay up for a further term in the PL. Beforehand Brighton fans breathed a sigh of relief for that mercy, knowing club, team & support could face this May fixture with much less intensity, after our own season of relative success for the previous elite league new boys.
*** match report: Albion were outclassed on the night and predictably couldn't hold a candle to title winners. City opened the scoring with a typical run & pass while visitors stood around watching (16min). But Seagulls hit back quickly when Ulloa headed home Proppers cross (20min). They were behind again prior to h-t when once more opened up a little too easily & given the run around (34min). In the second period there was only one winner as the home team grabbed a third from a short corner routine (72min). Hughton immediately sent on Kayal & Locadia and later March but the game was up long ago. He said, 'at 2-1 we we still in it and had opportunities to break. They press so quickly to get possession and it's very difficult. The 3rd goal hurt us the most.' Brighton fans weren't too distraught with the result and to date we'd not been beat by more than two goals on the long road around PL grounds. At end of the day Albion had the chance to do all those miles again next term and maybe improve poor away form to boot.
Stats; shape 433-4411, ht 2-1, goals 16,34,76-20, poss 74%-26%, on target 7-3, off target 8-3, corners 4-3, o/s 1-2,
fouls 5-7, yellows 0-1, subs 3-3 . Gate 54,013
1 Ryan, 2 Bruno, 22 Duffy, 5 Dunk, 3 Bruno, 6 Stephens, 13 Gross (7 Kayal 73), 24 Propper, 11 Knockaert,
16 Ulloa (25 Locadia 73), 19 Izquierdo (20 March 79).
Prem P37 . W9 D13 L15 . F34 A50 . Pt40 Po14 = 1.08pt/gm . Wins = 24.3%, Loss = 40.5%

MAN CITY @ home; The Etihad.
Seasn . W D L . F A GD . Pt Po pt/gm %Pt . W% L%
24/25 - 13 3 3 . 43 23 20 . 42 3 = 2.21 60.8 . 68.4 15.7 - Pep Guardiola @ 25/5/25
23/24 - 14 5 0 . 51 16 35 . 47 1 = 2.47 51.6 . 73.6 00.0 - Pep Guardiola
22/23 - 17 1 1 . 60 17 43 . 52 1 = 2.73 58.4 . 89.4 05.2 - Pep Guardiola
21/22 - 15 2 2 . 58 15 43 . 47 1 = 2.47 50.5 . 78.9 10.5 - Pep Guardiola
20/21 - 13 2 4 . 43 17 26 . 41 1 = 2.15 47.6 . 68.4 21.0 - Pep Guardiola.
19/20 - 15 2 2 . 57 13 44 . 47 2 = 2.47 58.0 . 78.9 10.5 - Pep Guardiola, finish 27/7/20.
18/19 - 18 0 1 . 57 12 45 . 54 1 = 2.84 55.1 . 94.7 05.2 - Pep Guardiola.
17/18 - 16 2 1 . 61 14 47 . 50 1 = 2.63 50.0 . 84.2 05.2 - Pep Guardiola.
16/17 - 11 7 1 . 37 17 20 . 40 3 = 2.10 51.2 . 57.8 05.2 - Pep Guardiola.
15/16 - 12 2 5 . 47 21 26 . 38 4 = 2.00 57.5 . 63.1 26.3 - Manuel Pellegrini.
14/15 - 14 3 2 . 44 14 30 . 45 2 = 2.36 56.9 . 73.6 10.5 - Manuel Pellegrini.
13/14 - 17 1 1 . 63 13 50 . 52 1 = 2.73 60.4 . 89.4 05.2 - Manuel Pellegrini.

* * * * *

Falmer years, 2011 to 2017 - no visits to the Etihad.

Withdean era, 1999 to 2011 - no visits to Maine Road or the Etihad.