Player Ratings: Brighton 1-1 Manchester City (Premier League)

Manchester City played out an enthralling 1-1 draw against Brighton on the south coast on Wednesday evening.

Brighton secured a place in the Europa League and Manchester City extended their unbeaten streak to 25 matches, as the Premier League champions returned to action for the first time since Sunday’s title celebrations at the Etihad Stadium.

Pep Guardiola was forced to make a series of changes due to the absences of Ruben Dias, Nathan Ake, Aymeric Laporte, Jack Grealish and Manuel Akanji, with the five players “not fully fit” according to the manager.

Phil Foden opened the scoring on the 24th minute after a smart counter-attacking move from Manchester City, however Brighton drew level through Julio Enciso’s stunning strike.

City thought that they had won the game late on, however Erling Haaland’s header was ruled out after VAR spotted a foul by the Blues forward in the build-up.

Brighton also had chances to win the game, with Danny Welbeck’s goal correctly ruled out for offside and Stefan Ortega making a number of important saves.

After an entertaining evening at the AMEX, here is how we rated the Manchester City players:

Stefan Ortega – 7

Another impressive performance from the German goalkeeper, who made a series of crucial saves and was confident with the ball at his feet.

Kyle Walker – 6

Played smartly when dropping into a centre-back role and made several key defensive recoveries.

John Stones – 6

Operated well both when defending and when on the ball, although some potential concern after seeing him replaced for Sergio Gomez late on.

Rodri – 6

Another hard-working performance from the Spaniard, who operated competently in central defence.

Rico Lewis – 6.5

A high quality showing from Rico Lewis, as the teenager defended well but also made some brilliant attacking runs.

Ilkay Gundogan – 6

Good work both defensively and offensively from the City skipper.

Bernardo Silva – 6

Not quite as spectacular as his performance last Wednesday against Real Madrid, but important work across the pitch from the midfielder.

Kevin De Bruyne – 6

Some promising work on the attack and a series of positive runs by the Belgian.

Phil Foden – 8 (MOTM)

A glitzing performance from Foden! Yet another goal against the Seagulls but also a showing worthy of staking a claim to potentially start both the FA Cup Final and Champions League Final.

Riyad Mahrez – 6

Some skilful glimpses by the Algerian but a lack of quality in the final third this evening.

Erling Haaland – 6

Slightly underwhelming performance by Haaland. Despite assisting Foden’s goal, the Norwegian missed two big chances in the first half and had his late headed goal ruled out for a foul in the build-up.

Substitutes:

Cole Palmer – 7.5

A superb cameo performance! Unfortunate not to register an assist but a series of electric and dangerous runs.

Julian Alvarez – N/A

Sergio Gomez – N/A

Kalvin Phillips – N/A