Manuel Akanji weighed in on Manchester City’s 3-1 Premier League defeat of Brighton on Saturday.
Manuel Akanji was pleased with Manchester City’s 3-1 win over Brighton on Saturday, especially since a VAR decision went in City’s favor.
City came through a difficult match thanks to goals from Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne, with Brighton’s Roberto De Zerbi playing with a directness and confidence that few teams do when they visit the Etihad. City displayed quality and grit to secure the three points, which was critical after their loss to Liverpool the previous weekend.
“It wasn’t easy today but in the end, it’s the three points that matter,” Akanji told BBC Radio Manchester after the game. “We knew we had to get back with three points against Brighton. In the end, we couldn’t keep the clean sheet but hopefully, we’ll do it in the next game.”
Akanji was particularly impressed with Haaland, Bernardo Silva, and De Bruyne, all of whom contributed significantly to the City’s goals. Haaland scored his first goal after collecting a long ball from Ederson and barging past Brighton defender Adam Webster. Brighton wanted a foul, but Akanji believes the striker’s natural strength is too much for most people to handle.
“[He’s] really strong; I believe he’s one of the strongest players I’ve faced.” So you must really stand tall against him. It’s not easy, but we can see what he does to his opponents game by game.
When asked if he felt sorry for Brighton’s defenders, Akanji was unequivocal: “No, I don’t.” “No! He’s on my team; I hope he does this to the other players; I’m glad he scored goals again today; he contributed significantly to our victory.”
After the VAR recommended that the referee consult the pitchside monitor after Bernardo went down under contact, Haaland scored from the penalty spot. The city had been wronged by two VAR calls in their previous two games, but things turned around on Saturday.
“He [Bernardo] got hit on the leg, I’m happy he scored, especially as they [VAR] took the goal away from us last week, and I saw that when Liverpool scored it was a handball.
“He’s [Bernardo] everywhere on the pitch, he runs everywhere. He’s so good on the ball and also against the ball, even though he’s really small but wins so many duels, he fears nobody, and he goes into every duel. He also wins a lot of balls for us and he creates a lot of opportunities in the build-up and also up front, he got the penalty for us.”
De Bruyne then completed the scoring with a fine strike from 25 yards out, and Akanji had one of the best views in the house.
“We can see game-by-game, all the assists he gives, the impact he has on the games with the balls he plays, and also today the strike was a crazy goal. I was right behind him and I saw how the ball went into the goal. It was a brilliant shot and I’m really happy he scored [to make it] 3-1 for us.”
The city will travel to Signal Iduna Park in the Champions League to face Borussia Dortmund, a venue familiar to both Akanji and Haaland. With the top spot in Group G up for grabs, Akanji is looking forward to the reunion.
“It’s a fantastic stadium to play in, and the fans are fantastic. I’m not used to being on the other side, and it’s my first time playing against Dortmund there, but I’m looking forward to it. We want to go there and get the three points because the first place in the group is up for grabs.”
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