Brighton fought back from 2-0 to beat the new Premier League champions Manchester City 3-2 in a brilliant game in front of returning fans at the Amex Stadium.
The visitors made an electric start as Ilkay Gundogan headed home Riyad Mahrez’s whipped cross inside two minutes.
But the Seagulls looked desperate to put on a show for 8000 returning supporters, and they had plenty to celebrate when Joao Cancelo was dismissed for bringing down Danny Welbeck as the striker bore down on goal.
Pep Guardiola´s quality side remained staunch in defence as Brighton piled on the pressure, and the hosts were hurt when Welbeck was forced off with an injury.
But both teams were resolute in defence and went in at the break with little to separate them.
The second 45 kicked off to another lightning start as the brilliant Phil Foden carried the ball all of 40 yards before finding the net for City´s second.
But Brighton were straight back in it as substitute Leandro Trossard scored sixty second later with another brilliant goal after bamboozling four City defenders in the box before finally lashing past Ederson.
The Seagulls were dominant and pushed for an equaliser that would send the fans into delirium, and it came 20 minutes from time as Adam Webster scored his first ever goal at the Amex to put Brighton level against the champions.
Then, to the disbelief of those in the ground, Brighton took the lead through Dan Burn, poking home his first goal for the club in three years with just ten minutes to go.
The lead was deserved and the comeback was emphatic in front of the returning fans, and Brighton held on for their first league win over City for 40 years.
MAN OF THE MATCH – BEN WHITE
One of the few Brighton defenders not to score a goal but was genuinely brilliant in keeping his defence in line and had plenty of chances to score himself. An imperious display.
TALKING POINT – Beautiful Brighton there for the fans
2-0 down against the best team in Europe with forty minutes to go, Brighton put on one of their best displays of the season and timed it to perfection as the fans returned to the Amex.
There were 8000 inside but it sounded like 80,000 that pushed Brighton to their best result of a difficult campaign.
They deserved it, they had the chances, and they had the support. Football is back!
PLAYER RATINGS
Brighton: Sanchez 7, Burn 8, Webster 8, White 9, Moder 7, Bissouma 8, Alzate 6, Gross 7, Mac Allister 7, Welbeck 7, Jahanbakhsh 7. Subs. Trossard 9, Lallana 8, Zeqiri 6.
Man City: Ederson 6, Cancelo 2, Stone 5, Dias 7, Zinchenko 6, Silva 6, Rodri 6, GUndogan 7, Mahrez 7, Torres 3, Foden 7. Subs. Garcia 6, Jesus 5, Fernandhino 6.
KEY MOMENTS
2– GOAL! BRIGHTON 0 MAN CITY 1 (Gundogan). Well, that didn´t take long! City get bodies up the pitch and Mahrez whips a ball in for Gundogan at the back post to header home. So easy, but so good.
10´- RED CARD!DRAMA! Cancelo has picked up a red card for bringing down Danny Welbeck who was the last man! Huge cheers!
48´- GOAL! BRIGHTON 0 MANCHESTER CITY 2 (Foden). My word. Foden takes the ball from the halfway line and he´s just so fast and strong, holding off two defenders on his way before finding the corner for his 15th of the season. Unreal. England are set up for dominance. The Brighton fans even clap it.
GOAL! BRIGHTON 1 MANCHESTER CITY 2 (Trossard). Immediate response and an even better goal. Trossard weaves and weaves into the box, before pulling off three or four dummies with six black shirts on him before finally whacking it into the net! Brilliant!
GOAL! BRIGHTON 2 MANCHESTER CITY 2 (Webster). Webster has his first ever goal for Brighton at the Amex and Brighton have equalised! What a game! Another ball into the box by Trossard and Webster leaps like a salmon to send the ball into the net. Fans! Jubilation!
GOAL! BRIGHTON 3 MANCHESTER CITY 2 (Burn). UNBELIEVABLE! Dan Burn has his first Brighton goal in three years! He cannot get the ball out from under his feet and by the time he does his shot is weak…but he gets a second stab at it and somehow finds the corner! The fans are going mental!
KEY STAT
