Brighton stun Manchester City 1-0 to claim historic first away win

By Halis Sunnetci

ISTANBUL (AA) - Brighton & Hove Albion secured their first-ever away victory against Manchester City on Saturday with a 1-0 win at Etihad Stadium in Week 9 of the English Premier League, handing the hosts their second consecutive league defeat.

Swedish midfielder Yasin Ayari scored the only goal in the 11th minute, while goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen made seven saves to preserve Brighton's advantage.

The result marked Manchester City's first back-to-back Premier League defeats under Enzo Maresca, following last weekend's loss to Aston Villa.

Brighton took an early lead when Diego Gomez delivered a low cross into the penalty area. Matheus Nunes failed to clear, and the ball deflected off Maxim De Cuyper before falling to Ayari, who finished from close range past Gianluigi Donnarumma.

City nearly equalized in the 23rd minute when Elliot Anderson delivered a cross to Iliman Ndiaye, but the forward headed it narrowly wide.

The hosts pushed forward in search of an equalizer but entered halftime trailing.

Brighton missed an opportunity to double their lead shortly after the restart when Ayari found De Cuyper unmarked inside the penalty area. But the Belgian fired his first-time effort over the crossbar in the 49th minute.

Five minutes later, Ndiaye drove forward from his own half and struck the crossbar with a powerful effort.

City continued to press, with Nunes forcing another save from Verbruggen in the 63rd minute after breaking into the penalty area.

Ndiaye wasted another opportunity in the 78th minute when he failed to convert Nico O'Reilly's low cross at the far post.

The hosts came close again in the 90th minute, but O'Reilly headed narrowly wide as Brighton held on to secure the three points.

Despite the defeat, Manchester City remained atop the Premier League with 21 points, level with Arsenal, who had a game in hand. Brighton climbed to third with 19 points.

Halis Sünnetci