Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne scored the 600th and 601st goals of manager Pep Guardiola's tenure as Manchester City defeated a spirited Brighton and Hove Albion 3-1 here at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
Haaland's 16th and 17th goals of this Premier League season, as well as De Bruyne's scorching strike, earned a welcome three points for Man City as we bounced back from defeat away at Liverpool.
Liverpool slumped to a shock 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest, which put another dent in their title aspirations as the Reds slumped to their third defeat in 11 matches. They have won four matches and drawn four too.
In another match, Everton defeated Crystal Palace 3-0 to recover from their recent indifferent results.
Haaland, Manchester city's summer signing showed his pace and power for his first goal, on 22 minutes, as he ran onto Ederson's fine through ball before holding off defender Adam Webster, rounding keeper Robert S�nchez and sliding home.
That second goal meant that Guardiola had overseen 600 goals for City in the Premier League since arriving at the start of the 2016-17 campaign, with De Bruyne ensuring 601.
Haaland became the first City man to score in seven consecutive home games since Sergio Aguero in the 2017-18 campaign. Then, in 43 minutes, he blasted home a spot-kick, earned by Bernardo Silva after the Portuguese was brought down in the box by Lewis Dunk.
City moved one point close to Arsenal with 26 points from eight wins and two draws. The Gunners have 27 points with a game in hand.
Things went haywire for Liverpool at Nottingham as their Former striker Taiwo Awoniyi scored the only goal of the game in the 55th minute to give the hosts victory at the City Ground.
Juergen Klopp's men created several chances throughout the afternoon but it was Forest who ended up with the points in the clubs' first top-flight meeting since 1999.
Everton produced an eye-catching team performance to get their season back on track with a 3-0 victory over Crystal Palace at Goodison Park.
An impressive start was rewarded on 11 minutes as Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored, spinning Marc Guehi on the edge of the area and arrowing a pinpoint finish past Vicente Guaita.
Frank Lampard's men needed strong resolve to keep the visitors at bay in the early stages of the second half, before two outstanding goals sealed the victory, Anthony Gordon tapping home from close range following a move that involved most players in royal blue.
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And substitute Dwight McNeil then put the result beyond doubt on 84 minutes, playing a one-two with Alex Iwobi, collecting the Nigerian's lovely backheel and finishing inside the area.
Lampard stuck with the same XI from the narrow midweek defeat at Newcastle, meaning Calvert-Lewin retained his place leading the Blues' attack, flanked by Gordon and Demarai Gray.
