Manchester City - Brighton & Hove Albion 3-1
There was plenty of focus on Brighton’s scoring woes coming into this clash, with the visitors not finding the back of the net with any of their last 54 efforts at goal before kick-off, but City had failed to score in their last two outings as well. Pep Guardiola’s men were strangely shot-shy in the opening stages, with their first attempt not arriving until the 22nd minute.
Luckily for them, it dropped to Haaland and, rather inevitably, was converted. Ederson’s brilliant pass from the back found the Norwegian, who rounded the onrushing Robert Sanchez, shrugged off Adam Webster and slotted into an empty net.
Roberto de Zerbi’s men were very much in the game, respectably holding their own against an under-par City side. Luck has not been with the Seagulls of late and that showed no sign of changing as the hosts were awarded a controversial penalty.
Bernardo Silva’s appeals were initially waved away after a coming together with Lewis Dunk, but after play had continued for a couple of minutes, referee Craig Pawson was instructed by VAR to have a look at the incident on the pitchside monitor.
The man in the middle subsequently pointed to the spot, from where Haaland drove the ball into the corner, netting for the 17th time in the league already this season.
Brighton would have considered themselves unlucky to be two behind at the break and set about mounting an unlikely comeback.
So often their inspiration, Leandro Trossard again stepped up to the plate, finding space on the edge of the area before rifling home in the 53rd minute, beating Ederson at his near post.
The Belgian international had a chance to level the contest as he broke free down the left, but as the angle tightened Ederson made himself big and smothered the effort. Ultimately, the Brazilian’s intervention allowed City to extend their advantage moments later.
Silva’s snapped pass to the edge of the box found De Bruyne in space, and the midfielder produced a world-class finish to find the far corner and seal a crucial victory at the top of the Premier League.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Erling Haaland (Manchester City)
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Everton - Crystal Palace 3-0
Last season’s Goodison Park meeting with Palace proved pivotal in avoiding the drop, as Everton came from two goals down, but it was the hosts who took an early lead this time around.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin tracked back to win the ball before darting into the box, where he was found by Alex Iwobi, calmly picking his spot low to Vicente Guaita’s right - Everton’s first goal in 276 minutes of regulation time.
The Toffees remained in the ascendancy following the breakthrough, looking confident on the ball, with both Demarai Gray and Anthony Gordon coming close to doubling the lead. The visitors grew into the contest as the half went on, but struggled to create any clear-cut scoring opportunities.
The Eagles began the second half brightly, but the same issues persisted with chances proving hard to come by and that lack of cutting edge came back to haunt Patrick Vieira’s side as Everton hit on the counter.
A dangerous breakaway led by Gray should have served as a warning sign, but minutes later a fast transition resulted in a crucial second when Gordon followed in Guaita’s parry from a Vitalii Mykolenko effort.
The goal was originally ruled offside, but after a VAR check, the game had its second goal and a Palace comeback was looking improbable at best. Tempers soon flared following a dubious Wilfried Zaha challenge, but that fracas ultimately had no bearing on the result.
With the game all but settled, Everton capped off an admirable performance with a goal.
Dwight McNeil drove at the Palace defence, played a neat one-two with Iwobi, and swept in for 3-0, helping double his side’s previously joint league-low three league home goals in one afternoon.
Having come from behind to win on three separate occasions, Palace were unable to repeat the trick here, losing for just the second time in seven league matches.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Alex Iwobi (Everton)
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