Erling Haaland has struck twice and Kevin de Bruyne has scored a stunning second-half goal, as Manchester City earned a 3-1 home win over Brighton & Hove Albion in the English Premier League.
The victory moved second-placed City on to 26 points after 11 games, one behind leaders Arsenal, who visit Southampton on Monday (NZ time). Brighton are eighth on 15 points.
Haaland scored for the seventh consecutive home game in all competitions to give City the lead midway through the first half and then fired in a penalty in the 43rd minute, after a video review ruled visiting captain Lewis Dunk had fouled Bernardo Silva.
Brighton deservedly pulled back a goal early in the second half, when Leandro Trossard rifled a shot under diving City goalkeeper Ederson from the edge of the area.
Trossard nearly found an equaliser, when he tore down the left wing and towards goal, but this time, Ederson got the better of him and blocked the shot to force a corner.
City captain De Bruyne then killed off the visitors' hopes of snatching a point by curling a shot from outside the area high into the net in the 75th minute.
Brighton are still searching for their first win under Roberto De Zerbi, but gave a good account of themselves, pressing City high up the pitch and doing a far better job of containing the champions than any other visiting team this season.
But they fell behind to the type of goal City are not usually associated with - a long kick downfield from goalkeeper Ederson that landed at the feet of Haaland, after a mix-up between Brighton keeper Robert Sanchez and defender Adam Webster.
The Norwegian striker outmuscled Webster and then walked the ball into the net, grabbing his 21st goal of the season in all competitions, after failing to score for the first time in 11 matches in last week's 1-0 defeat away to Liverpool.
Brighton continued to play well, but were pegged back again, when referee Craig Pawson was advised by the video assistant referee to review the tackle by Dunk on Silva, after initially allowing play to continue.
Haaland made no mistake to tot up his 22nd goal of the campaign, which was also City's 600th Premier League strike under Pep Guardiola, who became the third manager to reach the milestone, after Alex Ferguson with Manchester United and Arsene Wenger with Arsenal.
Meanwhile, Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored his first goal of the season, as Everton ended their three-match losing streak with an impressive 3-0 win over Crystal Palace at home.
Frank Lampard's team climbed four spots up to 11th in the league table on 13 points after 12 games, while Palace slipped to 12th on 13 points with a game in hand.
"For the team and for myself to get the win today, it went exactly how I hoped," said Calvert-Lewin.
"It's been a while, one I've been waiting for, one I've been looking forward to and I felt like myself today. It's been a long time coming, but great to get the result.
"A lot of hard work has gone into getting that first goal so I am over the moon."
Playing in his fourth game after returning from a knee injury, Calvert-Lewin put Everton ahead in the 11th minute, when he picked up a clever pass from Alex Iwobi and flicked the ball around Marc Guehi, before slotting it into the bottom corner.
Ten minutes later, Anthony Gordon came close to doubling the hosts' lead with a long-range strike that forced a save from Palace goalkeeper Vicente Guaita, who got a fingertip to the ball to tip it over.
Palace made a bright start in the second half, as Wilfried Zaha and Jordan Ayew looked dangerous in the Everton box, but the home side's defenders kept them quiet.
Gordon finally got his goal in the 63rd minute, when he tapped in the rebound from Vitaliy Mykolenko's saved shot, but the goal was disallowed for offside. The video referee later overturned the decision, as the crowd at Goodison Park burst into celebrations.
Dwight McNeil came off the bench and scored in the 84th minute to wrap up the win for Everton, as he finished off a brilliant team move, slotting home after a clever one-two with Iwobi, who bagged his second assist of the game.
The result ended Palace's unbeaten run of three league games and also means that they are yet to win an away league game this term.
Reuters
