Manchester: Erling Haaland struck twice and Kevin de Bruyne scored a stunning second-half goal as Manchester City earned a 3-1 home win over Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier League on Saturday.
The victory moved second-placed City on to 26 points after 11 games, one behind leaders Arsenal who visit Southampton on Sunday. 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 VAR review ruled that 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 which 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, having initially allowed 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.
Awoniyi strike upsets Liverpool
Nottingham Forest stunned Liverpool as Taiwo Awoniyi sealed a 1-0 win with a second-half goal to lift the Midlands club off the foot of the Premier League table on Saturday.
A below-par Liverpool, seeking a third consecutive league win, could have few complaints as Forest produced a superb performance to earn their second victory of the season.
Juergen Klopp's side were off the pace in the first half as a disciplined Forest side knocked them out of their rhythm.
Forest went ahead in the 55th minute when Awoniyi, who was once on Liverpool's books but never played a game, poached a rebound after his initial effort struck the post.
The hosts were dangerous on the counter-attack and had several chances to give themselves some breathing space.
But they were indebted to keeper Dean Henderson who made a series of saves, the best coming in stoppage time when he somehow kept out a sensational Virgil van Dijk close-range header from a corner.
Forest held on and moved to 19th place with nine points from 12 games, one ahead of Leicester City.
Liverpool, still without an away win in the league, are in seventh place with 16 points from 11 games.
After a poor start to the season Klopp's side had built up some momentum with last weekend's stormy win over champions Manchester City and followed that up by beating West Ham in midweek.
Even with several injuries to contend with, notably Thiago and Darwin Nunez being ruled out, they were expected to roll over a Forest side finding life tough back in the elite.
But Steve Cooper's side were magnificent as they gained a result that could kickstart their season in what was the first league meeting between the clubs since 1999.
Liverpool struggled to break down Forest's defensive ranks in the first half with Mohamed Salah failing to connect properly with one chance and Van Dijk squandering a headed opportunity.
Forest were compact and a threat on the counter attack with Jesse Lingard shooting straight at Alisson from one break.
Awoniyi, who was loaned out by Liverpool to several clubs before joining Union Berlin last season, was a thorn in Liverpool's side throughout and Forest's goal stemmed from a free kick conceded on the powerful forward by Joe Gomez on the halfway line, earning him a yellow card.
The ball was launched diagonally towards Steve Cook who drilled in a low cross towards Awoniyi who shinned his first effort against the post before steering home the rebound.
Harvey Elliott forced Henderson into a save almost immediately but Forest could have made it 2-0 on the counter-attack when Morgan Gibbs White was denied by a superb sliding block by James Milner while Brennan Johnson also went close.
Henderson was forced into action again to deny Trent Alexander-Arnold from close range and the keeper was to produce more heroics as the minutes ticked down.
Liverpool laid siege to the Forest goal late on with Van Dijk volleying wide with the goal gaping and then seeing his header superbly saved by Henderson.
