Courageous Brighton rock Man City to reach top four

Brighton staged a sensational late fightback to come from behind and send Manchester City to a fourth consecutive defeat with a pulsating 2-1 win at the Amex Stadium.

- ROBERT O'CONNOR

Substitute Matt O’Riley appeared in the area in the 83rd minute to tuck away Joao Pedro’s pass for his first Brighton goal to stun the Premier League champions, minutes after Pedro had himself equalised following a penalty box scramble.

Erling Haaland’s goal after 23 minutes had looked like being City’s winner for much of the game, the Norway striker finishing off following a sublimely calibrated pass from Mateo Kovacic.

Yet this was a display of supreme courage by the home side, Fabian Hurzeler’s players refusing to let go lightly of a chance to leap into the top four.

They deservedly levelled when half the City team descended on Danny Welbeck as he received the ball in the box and in the panic no one spotted Pedro who leapt onto the scene to finish.

And it fell to Pedro to provide the ball for O’Riley, appearing for only the second time since moving from Celtic in the summer after injury wrecked his early months at Brighton, who capped a famous night on the south coast with the coolest finish amid scintillating drama.