- Manchester City beat Albion 2-0 at the Etihad Stadium
- Raheem Sterling and Sergio Aguero on target for City
- The Seagulls are next in action against West Ham United on Friday
- Albion sit 14th in the table with five points from seven games
Brighton & Hove Albion succumbed to their fourth Premier League defeat of the season after a 2-0 loss to Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.
Albion put in an encouraging display against the reigning champions, but a goal in each half from Raheem Sterling and Sergio Aguero gave the hosts a relatively comfortable victory.
Chris Hughton made one change to the side that lost 2-1 to Tottenham Hotspur a week ago, with Jurgen Locadia replacing Glenn Murray to make his first start of the season.
Albion took the game to City from the kick-off, as Yves Bissouma picked out Anthony Knockaert on the right flank, and the Frenchman won a corner that Ederson claimed comfortably.
But City showed their quick movement in and around the Albion box which resulted in a pass towards Aguero, whose acrobatic attempt was blocked.
Albion still managed to venture forward in a lively opening five minutes when Knockaert’s attempt was blocked from Gaetan Bong’s cross, before Shane Duffy headed over from the resulting corner.
Maty Ryan then had to be alert to tip away David Silva’s seemingly innocuous ball towards goal that nearly crept inside of the post.
Aguero attempted the speculative once again with another overhead effort, this time from Sterling’s cross, but the Argentine couldn’t divert his attempt towards goal.
Leroy Sane continued to look lively down the left flank and sought to make an impact from a central position, only to see his long-range strike go straight at Ryan.
But the breakthrough for the hosts came with 29 minutes on the clock courtesy of Sterling, as Sane raced down the left flank and picked out the England winger to slide home his effort at the far post.
Buoyed by breaking the deadlock ,City pressed forward again through Bernardo Silva, but the midfielder’s effort went wide of Ryan’s left-hand post.
Oleksandr Zinchenko was next to try his luck for the hosts, but was thwarted thanks to Duffy’s fine block.
Hughton’s men had to ride out a spell of pressure towards the end of the first half, as Ryan made two smart stops to keep out shots from Sterling and Fernandinho.
The half ended with an Albion chance though, as Solly March did well to beat Kyle Walker down the left flank and tee up Knockaert, but the Frenchman’s effort was blocked.
Aguero and Walker both had early chances following the re-start, but neither could divert their attempts on target in a cagey beginning to the second half.
Somehow the deficit remained at one just moments later when Lewis Dunk made a tremendous block to thwart Aguero, before Ryan did well to keep out David Silva’s looping drive.
Aguero wasn’t to be denied in the 65th minute, as he eluded the challenges of Dunk and Propper to play a one-two with Sterling and slot the ball in past Ryan to double City’s lead.
It turned out to be the Argentine’s departing action before being replaced by Gabriel Jesus.
Murray, Alireza Jahanbakhsh and Jose Izquierdo were all introduced in the final 20 minutes to give the Seagulls fresh impetus, but the hosts saw out the closing stages to secure a 2-0 win.
ALBION: Ryan; Montoya, Duffy, Dunk, Bong; Propper, Bissouma, Kayal; Knockaert (Jahanbakhsh 79), Locadia (Murray 73), March (Izquierdo 83).
SUBS NOT USED: Button (GK), Bruno, Bernardo, Balogun.