Phil Foden scored the only goal as Manchester City moved up to third in the Premier League with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Brighton at the Etihad Stadium.
Foden netted his eighth of the season just before half-time – a superb low strike from the edge of the box – as City maintained their recent climb up the table with a fourth successive league win.
It should have been more comfortable for the dominant hosts as Raheem Sterling missed a late penalty, Bernardo Silva hit the woodwork and Seagulls keeper Robert Sanchez made a number of outstanding saves.
But the visitors were unable to capitalise on the reprieves and, even though they remained in the contest to the end, they rarely threatened and could not force an equaliser.
City are now unbeaten in 14 matches in all competitions and building momentum although, as the game comes under increased scrutiny, their goal celebration could attract criticism amid the coronavirus pandemic.
With Gabriel Jesus dropping back to the bench after only returning from a spell out with coronavirus at the weekend and Sergio Aguero isolating, City started without a recognised centre forward.
They probably missed the presence an established striker could have given them as Brighton defended solidly, but the hosts still created a number of chances in the opening period.
Kevin De Bruyne had some of the best of them, first going through on goal after exchanging passes with Ilkay Gundogan on the edge of the area but Sanchez stood up well to deny him.
De Bruyne tested Sanchez again with a powerful shot following a corner and the Belgian also had a free-kick blocked after Adam Webster was deemed to have passed back to his keeper.
Brighton were not completely devoid of ambition and went close when Leonardo Trossard curled a shot just beyond the far post.
Sanchez saved again from De Bruyne after City broke from one end of the field to the other in a flash following a Brighton corner and the hosts finally claimed a deserved lead a minute before the break.
Typically De Bruyne was involved, finding Foden outside the area but the goal owed all to the brilliance of the 20-year-old.
Foden took the pass in his stride and took out a defender with a clever first touch before steadying himself and firing a low shot into the bottom corner.
City’s relief at finally breaking through was evident, although amid renewed calls for players to curb goal celebrations, the large group hug that formed may attract scrutiny.
When the action resumed in the second half, City threatened to overwhelm the Seagulls. Riyad Mahrez shot wide and Gundogan brought another good save out of Sanchez before Silva thumped the follow-up against the woodwork.
Sanchez saved brilliantly again from a long-range De Bruyne effort and also kept out a Joao Cancelo strike.
Remarkably, however, Brighton remained in the game. Ederson, returning after missing three games following a positive Covid-19 test, was a bystander for much of the encounter but might have been called upon had John Stones not produced a fine tackle to block Neal Maupay.
City should have killed off the game in injury time as Sanchez brought down De Bruyne but substitute Sterling blazed over from the spot. It gave Brighton one last chance to get forward but they could not make it count.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here