Brighton Hold Champions Manchester City To Draw, Secure UEFA Europa League Qualification

Julio Enciso’s stunning long-range strike secured Brighton’s qualification for the Europa League in a 1-1 draw with Manchester City on Wednesday. The Paraguay international scored an unstoppable effort to equalize from about 25 meters after Phil Foden had put Premier League champions City ahead at the Amex Stadium.

A point means Brighton are guaranteed a sixth-place finish, their highest ever position in the top flight of English football. It marks an excellent first season in charge for manager Roberto De Zerbi, who only took over from Graham Potter in September after the former Brighton boss left for Chelsea.

“It’s a fantastic goal, we achieved an incredible goal,” said De Zerbi. “Man City is the best team in the world. It was a tough game for us. We deserve this point. We deserve the Europa League.”

The club faced an uncertain future at the time, but continued to flourish under the Italian, who also led the team to the semi-finals of the FA Cup that season. Sixth place beats Brighton’s previous highest placing of ninth, which it achieved the previous year under Potter.

“Early in the season you never know what can happen when you appoint a new coach,” said Brighton chairman Tony Bloom. “Luckily we’ve hired the perfect guy. The players have taken to him so brilliantly. His motivational skills, tactical skills and getting the best out of our players have been absolutely fantastic.”

Tonight’s dressing room scenes! , pic.twitter.com/tGsyvE7Wyl– Brighton & Hove Albion (@OfficialBHAFC) May 24, 2023

The draw ended City’s 12-game winning streak in the league which had seen Pep Guardiola’s side overhaul long-time leader Arsenal at the top and win a fifth title in six years. With a third league championship already clinched, City didn’t have much to play for other than improving their points total.

“The game we played 48 hours after drinking in Manchester, we behaved 48 hours later and we showed why we were champions against that team,” Guardiola joked in reference to City’s title celebrations on Sunday.

After resting several of his star players against Chelsea on Sunday, Guardiola recalled Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne to his starting lineup along with John Stones, Rodri, Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva. Haaland had two chances to open the scoring before becoming a provider for Foden to put City ahead in the 25th minute.

At the other end, Danny Welbeck had already fired a free-kick over the crossbar. The equalizer came from Nkiso and it was a worthy strike that sent his team to Europa League heights as he fired a right-footed shot into the top corner in the 38th.

Haaland thought he had scored his 53rd goal of the season with a late header, but it was disallowed by VAR for having already pulled Levi Colville’s shirt.