Alan Smith hailed a certain Manchester City player as his Man of the Match during his side’s 4-0 thrashing of Brighton & Hove Albion.
Fears about City’s trip to the Amex Stadium being a potential banana skin were put to bed by the visitors with an emphatic victory.
Pep Guardiola’s men seemed up for the fight from minute one as they put in one of their best performances of the season.
Roberto De Zerbi’s side played impressive bits of football and seemed confident with how many risks they were taking playing out from the back.
However, Manchester City’s quality shone through as they put in a statement performance against Brighton.
In recent weeks, City have been purring in the Premier League and once again, they looked at their vintage best on Thursday night.
Alan Smith names the Man City player who was Man of the Match vs Brighton
An impressive facet of the Premier League champions’ display was their pressing.
Aside from all their attacking endeavour, the Sky Blues were up for the challenge as they ran their socks off during the game.
Even after the game was 4-0 in their favour.
In possession, City were a dream to witness, as they eventually found a way to dismantle Brighton’s man-to-man press.
During the first 10 or 15 minutes of the game, the hosts’ press was working to a tee.
But the best teams find solutions mid-game and that is what Guardiola’s side did against De Zerbi and Co.
It was Manchester City midfielder Phil Foden who stole the headlines with a brace to his name against Brighton, who Alan Smith singled out as his Man of the Match.
“There’s been a few outstanding City players but for 66 minutes we saw some beautiful football from Phil Foden. The flicks, the awareness and of course, the goals. He’s in the form of his life”, he said on Sky Sports.
Phil Foden was a joy to watch
In our view, it is tough to disagree with Alan Smith as Phil Foden was the best player on the pitch as his Manchester City side cruised past Brighton.
On paper, it seemed like the £225,000-a-week man would play on the left wing but he was deployed in his favoured number 10 position, where he caused nightmares for De Zerbi’s side.
The way Phil Foden interchanged positions with Manchester City teammate Kevin De Bruyne, linked up the attacks with sumptuous flicks and tricks and was involved in three of his side’s four goals against Brighton; Alan Smith had no choice but to reserve special praise for him.
Foden’s turn and through ball into Walker’s path, who set up De Bruyne was an indicator of the fact that even aside from getting a direct goal or an assist, he had a brilliant outing.