Maresca expects another tough Brighton test after City's cup shootout win
Manchester City face Brighton again at the Etihad on Saturday, this time in the Premier League. Enzo Maresca says their League Cup meeting showed what City should expect.
Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca said on Thursday that he expects another difficult match against Brighton when the teams meet at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday in the Premier League, three days after City needed a penalty shootout to beat them there in the League Cup.
Maresca said he had ‘no doubt’ Brighton would be as tough to beat in the league fixture. He described them as being in a strong run of form and said they had played ‘front foot, man to man’ against opponents he had watched this season, including Arsenal, Crystal Palace and Liverpool. ‘We knew that this was a tough game and they're going to be exactly the same on Saturday,’ he said.
What City's cup comeback showed
Brighton twice led in Wednesday's cup tie. Malick Yalcouyé put the visitors ahead, Mateo Kovačić equalised for City and Georginio Rutter restored Brighton's lead shortly after half-time. Rutter also had a shot tipped onto the bar by Gerónimo Rulli and hit the side-netting after rounding the goalkeeper, according to dpa.
City drew level at 2-2 when Vitor Reis deflected in a Rayan Cherki free kick in the 72nd minute. The match went to penalties, where Kovačić had a City attempt saved before Rulli stopped Brighton's final two kicks, taken by Yasin Ayari and Lewis Dunk. City won the shootout 4-3 and advanced to a quarter-final against third-tier Bradford.
The result was the subject of NewsJaws' earlier report on Rulli's shootout performance. Maresca's assessment now shifts the focus to Saturday's league meeting at the same ground, where both managers are expected to restore players after making 16 changes between them for the cup match, dpa reported.
Rulli's role after the shootout
Rulli played in place of Gianluigi Donnarumma, one of five City players Maresca gave a brief holiday this week. Asked whether the shootout performance could make Rulli City's first-choice goalkeeper, Maresca said: ‘No, absolutely not from my point of view.’ He said Rulli was working well but knew his role.
City made nine changes following their Premier League defeat at Aston Villa, according to the AFP and AP report published by Al Jazeera. Maresca said City must carry the same ambition into different competitions: ‘We need to do our business. That is winning games and, at the moment, we are doing that.’
Read in depth: Sports
Rays face payroll and rotation questions after World Series loss to Brewers
Tampa Bay’s 98-win season ended in five World Series games. Its new ownership group faces questions about spending and retaining a rotation that helped carry the club to the...
Lamar Jackson practices fully as Ravens assess his return for Bills game
The quarterback’s full participation on Wednesday gave Baltimore reason for optimism, but coach Jesse Minter said the team would assess how he responds before Sunday’s game in...
Sources and context
- City's Maresca expects no let-up from Brighton in second straight gamedpa international (republished by Yahoo Sports)
- Man City beat Brighton on penalties after dramatic League Cup comebackAl Jazeera; report credited to AFP and AP
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.