Nine changes and a back-up keeper's night. Brighton had 2.03 xG to City's 0.76 and led twice; Kovačić's curler and a free-kick off Reis's heel took it to penalties, and Rulli saved two.
The numbers
| Manchester City | Brighton & Hove Albion | |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 57% | 43% |
| Shots | 13 | 17 |
| xG | 0.76 | 2.03 |
| Touches in opp. box | 28 | 32 |
Result the chances deserved: Manchester City 13% / 20% / Brighton & Hove Albion 67% (Poisson).
Starting line-ups
Manchester City (4-2-3-1): Rulli, Lewis, Reis, Guéhi, O'Reilly, Bouaddi, Kovačić, Foden, Cherki, Allan, Samba.
Brighton & Hove Albion (4-2-3-1): Steele, Costinha, Svoboda, Boscagli, Hadjam, Groß, Ayari, Gómez, Hinshelwood, Yalcouyé, Rutter.
Brighton subs: Minteh (76', Gómez), De Cuyper (76', Hinshelwood), Wieffer (81', Yalcouyé), O'Riley (81', Rutter), Dunk (85', Svoboda). Unused: Verbruggen, Promise David, Osman, Vušković (Brighton & Hove Albion). Brighton made seven changes (ESPN). Coach: Fabian Hürzeler.
Cards: Svoboda (11'), Bouaddi (32', a lunge on Yalcouyé just after the opener), Wieffer (90+1'), Dunk (90+2') (FotMob, VAVEL; FotMob has Bouaddi at 30'). A Groß goal was ruled out for offside against Rutter in the build-up (Brighton & Hove Albion). Goal minutes: Sky Sports, ESPN and Brighton's report (FotMob's event list has 32' and 61' for City's goals). Brighton's report credits the 72' goal to Cherki; FotMob, ESPN and Sky Sports give it to Reis, off whose heel Cherki's free-kick went in.
Shootout (City first): Foden ✓, Groß ✓, Fernández ✓, O'Riley ✓, Doku ✓, De Cuyper ✓, Kovačić saved by Steele, Ayari saved by Rulli, Cherki ✓, Dunk saved by Rulli. City win 4–3 (FotMob, Brighton & Hove Albion, Goal). Crowd: 49,107 (FotMob). xG: FotMob 0.76–2.03.
Key moments, move by move
- Diego Gómez wins the ball on Brighton's right (Brighton & Hove Albion).
- He feeds Hinshelwood inside City's box.
- Hinshelwood pulls it back to Rutter, who sends it across the six-yard box.
- Yalcouyé steers it in from close range; Rulli gets a big touch but cannot keep it out (Brighton & Hove Albion). Sky Sports noted a suspicion of offside.
- Samba runs into the box and the ball hits Hadjam's hand; City appeal for a penalty (Yahoo Sports).
- Foden wins the loose ball and lays it to Kovačić on the edge of the box.
- Kovačić curls it in off the post past a full-stretch Steele (Brighton & Hove Albion): his first goal in 18 months (Yahoo Sports).
- Brighton keep the ball for 20 passes from the restart (Brighton & Hove Albion).
- Left-back Hadjam gets to the byline and pulls it back (Yahoo Sports).
- Rutter finishes first time, his third goal of the season (Sky Sports, Brighton & Hove Albion).
- Foden's driving run leads to a free-kick on the edge of Brighton's box (Sports Illustrated).
- Cherki strikes it low (VAVEL), and it clips Reis's heel (Yahoo Sports).
- The deflection beats the diving Steele (Brighton & Hove Albion): City are level for the second time.
Brighton's cut-backs against City's rotated side: the better chances lost on penalties
- Two changed teams. Maresca made nine changes and rested Haaland, Donnarumma, Dias, Anderson and Gvardiol; Brighton made seven (ESPN). Rulli played in goal and 17-year-old Samba led the line again. Maresca: "I was happy with the way we planned the game, with the rotation" (ESPN).
- Brighton got to the byline. Both Brighton goals came from a ball pulled back from close to City's goal line: Hinshelwood's for the first, Hadjam's for the second (Brighton & Hove Albion). Brighton had 32 touches in City's box to City's 28, and 17 shots to 13 (FotMob).
- City's goals came from outside the box. Kovačić curled in from about 20 yards, and Cherki's free-kick went in off Reis's heel. City's 13 shots were worth 0.76 xG; Brighton's 17 were worth 2.03 (FotMob).
- Rulli decided it. He tipped Rutter's curler onto the bar and saved Ayari's and Dunk's penalties after Steele had saved Kovačić's. Maresca: "Apart from the penalties, I think overall he was good, especially in the build-up" (ESPN).
Tactical scenes
After Rutter's goal Brighton kept getting through. Rutter curled one towards the top corner and Rulli tipped it onto the bar, Rutter later rounded Rulli and hit the side netting, and late on Wieffer hit the post from De Cuyper's corner. Brighton finished the 90 minutes with two goals from chances worth about two.
Evidence: Brighton had 17 shots worth 2.03 xG and 32 touches in City's box (FotMob). Rulli tipped Rutter's shot onto the crossbar and Wieffer hit the upright from a corner (Brighton & Hove Albion); a Groß goal was also ruled out for offside. FotMob match page · Brighton & Hove Albion match report · Yahoo Sports: match report and ratings
Recreate it in FM26
Brighton & Hove Albion · Brighton's 4-2-3-1: to the byline, then pull it back · 4-2-3-1Show cardHide card
Brighton's 4-2-3-1: to the byline, then pull it back
| Pos | Player | In Possession | Out of Possession |
|---|---|---|---|
| GK | Steele | Goalkeeper | Goalkeeper |
| RB | Costinha | Full-Back | Full-Back |
| RCB | Svoboda | Ball-Playing Centre-Back | Stopping Centre-Back |
| LCB | Boscagli | Ball-Playing Centre-Back | Covering Centre-Back |
| LB | Hadjam | Wing-Back | Pressing Full-Back |
| RDM | Groß | Deep-Lying Playmaker | Defensive Midfielder |
| LDM | Ayari | Box-to-Box Midfielder | Pressing Defensive Midfielder |
| RW | Gómez | Winger | Tracking Winger |
| AM | Hinshelwood | Attacking Midfielder | Tracking Attacking Midfielder |
| LW | Yalcouyé | Inside Forward | Inside Outlet Winger |
| ST | Rutter | Deep-Lying Forward | Centre Forward |
Team instructions
In Possession
- Passing DirectnessShorter
- PatienceWork Ball Into Box
- Crossing StyleLow Crosses
Out of Possession
- Line of EngagementHigh Press
- Trigger PressMore Often
- Defensive TransitionCounter-Press
The idea: A 4-2-3-1 that works the ball to the byline and pulls it back: a Wing-Back who overlaps on one side, a Winger who wins it back on the other, and a Deep-Lying Forward who links play and still arrives in the box.
What FM26 can't copy: FM26 can't reproduce a shootout, or two sides that each changed most of their team.
Our reading of this match in FM26 terms, not an exported tactic file. Role names as in FM26.
What if? Replay it with a different plan
Our best alternative plan: Doku on at 46' (for Allan), Khusanov on at 46' (for Lewis). Keep the shape and the press, but bring Doku on early to give City a way past Brighton's back four, and Khusanov to follow Hadjam. Brighton's chances still probably make it close. It moves Manchester City's win chance from 13% to 17% (xG 0.76–2.03 becomes 0.91–1.93). Try your own changes to formation, pressing, approach and substitutions.
The game-changer Manchester City needed
Iliman Ndiaye
City's 13 shots were worth 0.76 xG and both goals came from outside the box or a deflection. Ndiaye cuts inside to shoot and was City's most dangerous player at Villa Park four days earlier.
Declan Rice
Both Brighton goals were balls pulled back to a man arriving in the box. Rice runs back with those runners all the way to the six-yard area and is strong in the air for the corners Brighton forced late on.
What the analysts said
“To be honest, since I've been here we never practiced penalties.”Enzo Maresca (via ESPN)
“I was happy with the way we planned the game, with the rotation.”Enzo Maresca (via ESPN)
“We lost in a shootout. We had enough chances to win the game but the goals we conceded were very unlucky.”Fabian Hürzeler (via ESPN)
“We will never blame players who miss chances or miss penalties. It is a team sport and we stick together.”Fabian Hürzeler (via ESPN)
“Before the game I spoke to Enzo Fernandez and told him if it goes to penalties I will save two.”Gerónimo Rulli (City Studios, via Goal)
Brighton made the better chances, and City went through because Rulli saved two penalties.
What's happening. City drew 2–2 with Brighton and won the shootout 4–3, so they are in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals. Both sides changed most of their team. Brighton led twice and made chances worth more than twice City's by FotMob's xG. City came back with a long-range curler and a deflected free-kick, and Rulli saved two penalties.
How it works. Brighton's goals came the same way: a run to the byline and a ball pulled back across the six-yard box. That move is hard to defend because the defenders are running towards their own goal and cannot see the runner arriving behind them. It needs the full-back and a midfielder to follow their men all the way. City kept the ball more, but rarely got close enough to shoot from good positions.
What the shots say. Brighton's 17 shots were worth about two goals, and City's 13 less than one (FotMob). One reading: City were lucky to reach penalties, and Brighton's cup side, with seven changes, was the better team on the night. The other: both of City's goals needed a strike from distance or a deflection, which is what happens when nine changes break up the usual combinations, and Saturday's stronger XI will look different.