Goals had been simple to return through for Manchester City as they persisted their attention-grabbing house shape in opposition to Brighton. Chloe Kelly performed a starring function as Gareth Taylor’s facet cruised to victory and deepened Brighton’s troubles close to the ground of the desk.
An early personal objective from Veatriki Sarri despatched City on their method earlier than Julie Blakstad and Laura Coombs added to the tally. Brighton pulled one again overdue on via Lee Guem-min.
“It was a good win,” Taylor, town supervisor, stated. “I feel we appeared a bit of gradual within the first 5 mins, however the objective settled us. Our set-play supply was once actually excellent lately after which after that we scored two superb targets.
“I’d say the second one part was once a bit of too unfastened from us in ownership … I’m simply disillusioned that we have now now not added extra targets to our efficiency. But it assists in keeping us proper involved and that’s the reason the actually fulfilling factor.”
Taylor’s side has been somewhat flying under the radar this season, but their form has been noteworthy. Plenty of turnover in the summer and injury issues led to disruption early on but his side are unbeaten since September and clearly heading in the right direction. With the league’s joint top scorer in Bunny Shaw spearheading their attack they have made the Academy Stadium a fortress, winning the past eight at home.
City were clear favorites with the weight of history and Brighton’s inconsistent form on their side. They have won all but one of their previous league encounters against the Seagulls, scoring 34 goals and conceding just three. Amy Merricks’ sides have been scoring more recently but are predictably leaky at the back.
This trend continued in the first half with City dominant throughout. Kelly ran Brighton’s ragged defensive line with her dancing feet and driving offensive play. The England forward is still searching for his first domestic goal of the season and seems determined to break that run. It appeared she had in the 11th minute as her dipping corner ended up in the back of the net only for it later to be marked as an own goal against Sarri, who had got a touch at the near post.
Kelly continued to be City’s main attacking outlet and was the instigator of their second goal. With another driving run down the right she beat both Poppy Pattinson and Lee before setting up Blakstad for a diving header. It was the 21-year-old’s fifth goal of the season as she continues to make an impact.
With less than half an hour on the clock, City was three up and in cruise control. Coombs, known as a strong box-to-box midfielder, produced a sublime top‑corner finish that flew past the outstretched Megan Walsh.
With a comfortable lead, City could afford to take their foot off the gas in the second half. Taylor was also able to give minutes to his bench, with Kelly brought off, among others.
Brighton proved a sterner opposition in the second, with Danielle Carter coming close to pulling one back for her side. They got their consolation at the death when Lee poked home in the 93rd minute. For her part, Merricks was impressed by the improvements her side made in the game, providing them with a platform to build on.
“I feel within the first part there have been some key spaces that we had to give a boost to on,” Brighton’s interim manager said. “I think we did that at half-time and came out better in the second. The players really applied themselves and were committed to the idea of what we wanted to do… Obviously, they’re going to have opportunities. I think we limited that, and we created [opportunities], We can hold our heads up high today in terms of how we showcased ourselves.”
Despite this comfort, it was once a at ease victory for City as they closed the space on the best of the desk. Manchester United on the Etihad Stadium look ahead to them subsequent weekend, an instance that can turn out an actual check in their identify credentials.