Sussex

Adwaidh Rajan
BBC Sport journalist

Image source, Getty Images

An impressive second-half display helped Brighton come back from behind to defeat Manchester City 2-1 and get their first win of the Premier League season.

The Seagulls have had a difficult start to their league campaign as they were cruelly denied an opening day win against Fulham by a 97th-minute equaliser from Rodrigo Muniz.

They then were beaten 2-0 at Everton after Fabian Hurzeler's side spurned a number of chances in the first half.

And it looked like more of the same script for much of the first half against Pep Guardiola's City on Sunday.

But Hurzeler proved why he is one of the most promising managers in the business with a quadruple change at the hour mark which turned the game on its head.

Brajan Gruda and James Milner, who both scored, were among the substitutes along with Georginio Rutter and Yasin Ayari.

Milner, wearing the number 20 shirt, converted from the penalty to draw level and paid tribute to his former team-mate Diogo Jota with his celebration.

But the Seagulls continued to probe and forced City goalkeeper James Trafford into one save after another before Gruda rounded him and finished into an open goal to help his side get a much-needed victory.

With confidence restored, Brighton will make a trip to Bournemouth for their next game after international break on 14 September.

Fabian Hurzeler spoke to BBC Match of the Day after Brighton's victory against Manchester City: "Sometimes football is not too much about tactics. It's about energy, intensity and togetherness on the pitch. The substitutes came in and made the difference. You always can spread energy and it gives your teammates and the whole crowd energy and that is very important in football.

"What we did after we scored the goal and the subs is that we had the belief. We weren't happy and satisfied with the 1-1, we want to go for the second and we deserved it.

"Pep [Guardiola] is for me the best coach in the world and it is always a big challenge to face him. He always had new ideas and you have to adapt. It is always the biggest challenge to compete against him but it's not a one man show it is a team performance, and I am very happy that my players delivered that on the pitch, they committed to each other, suffered together.

On James Milner's penalty: "He proved already in training, that's why he was chosen to take it today. So I am very happy for him. Not only for the goal but he is still a very important personality and player on the pitch for us. He came on and brought energy and organised it, so I am happy for him."

Milner also spoke after Sunday's victory: "I thought last season might be my last [because of injury]. It's nice to get it [the goal] in a victory. I'm delighted for the boys. In the first two games we didn't feel we got what we deserved. This win was a real squad effort. It was a great move by the manager [to make four changes at once]. The least we can do is come on and try and lift the tempo.

On his tribute to his former team-mate Diogo Jota: "It was horrific [what happened to him]. He was a great guy and a great team-mate. I loved him as both. I've not scored [in the Premier League] for six years and I was wearing his number. Obviously I've got help from the great man."

"Football is not about tactics, it's about intensity and energy you bring on the pitch. That's what we showed today.

"Today we had to believe, players always have to believe and I have to believe in my team. With the subs we had that belief and we had the crowd with us. When the crowd is there, the stadium is unbelievable and it was very helpful for us.

"You have to know the characters of the players. Who is bringing energy, who is organising. We thought we needed more energy so that was the thinking behind the four subs. They delivered when they came on. But four players cannot change the game so it is always a team performance with the players who are already on the pitch.

"A great performance from the skipper. The defence were impressive, to stop [Erling] Haaland is not easy. There was great confidence between the defenders and made it look really good."

Did you know?

James Milner's penalty – his first Premier League goal since Boxing Day 2019 for Liverpool – made him the oldest ever penalty scorer in a Premier League game and the second oldest scorer ever (39 years, 239 days), behind Teddy Sheringham (40 years, 268 days).

Whether you were at the game or following from elsewhere, we want to know what you learned.

Have your say on Brighton's performance

What did you make of Man City's display?

Come back to this page on Monday to find a selection of your replies

Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler makes three changes from the 2-0 defeat by Everton last week.

Diego Gomez, Jack Hinshelwood and Joel Veltman are among the starters as Matt O'Riley, Yasin Ayari and Mats Wieffer miss out.

Brighton XI: Verbruggen, Dunk, Van Hecke, Minteh, Hinshelwood, Baleba, Welbeck, Mitoma, Gomez, De Cuyper, Veltman.

Subs: Steele, Gruda, Rutter, Milner, Boscagli, Kadioglu, Ayari, O'Riley, Coppola

The big news from the Manchester City camp is that Pep Guardiola has insisted with James Trafford in the goal with Ederson's future at the club uncertain.

They make four changes from the 2-0 defeat by Tottenham last week, including a first start for Rodri since a 2-2 draw with Arsenal in September 2024. Matheus Nunes, Abdukodir Khusanov and Bernardo Silva also come in.

Manchester City XI: Trafford, Reijnders, Stones, Marmoush, Rodri, Silva, Ait-Nouri, Nunes, Khusanov, Bobb, Haaland.

Subs: Ederson, Dias, Ake, Doku, Gonzalez, Gundogan, Akanji, O'Reilly, Lewis.

There are four games in the Premier League on Saturday and BBC Sport will bring you every moment.

• Brighton v Man City - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

• Nottingham Forest v West Ham - listen on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 2

• Liverpool v Arsenal (16:30) - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

• Aston Villa v Crystal Palace (19:00)

Kick-off times 14:00 BST unless stated

Follow all of the action and reaction from the two 14:00 matches here

Get Liverpool v Arsenal here

And Aston Villa v Crystal Palace is here

Which Manchester City side will we see? I said last week on Football Focus and Final Score that the goalkeepeing situation with James Trafford worries the life out of me. I don't think he should be playing ahead of Ederson, even if there is talk of Ederson leaving.

Brighton should've won their first game against Fulham - they didn't and then they lost to Everton despite having a fair few chances.

This match could be anything. I think we'll find out a lot about Manchester City and whether they can be challengers because Brighton away is a difficult fixture.

Last season I backed City on so many occasions saying they'd bounce back. I got so many of the predictions wrong after they did the exact opposite and stayed on their bad run.

There's a strong chance I'll be wrong again, wouldn't be the first time, but I'm going to revert back to last season's technique and say City will pinch this.

Sutton's prediction: 1-2

Read the full predictions and have your say here