Dominik Szoboszlai curled home a brilliant long-range free kick to earn Liverpool a 1-0 win over Arsenal in an early-season meeting between two of the likely Premier League title contenders on Sunday.
Manchester City was also expected to be challenging for the championship this season but collapsing to a 2-1 loss at Brighton — for a second straight loss — was another sign that Pep Guardiola’s team has lost its aura of dominance.
Little separated Liverpool and Arsenal at Anfield before Szoboszlai stepped up to an 83rd-minute free kick and whipped it into the top corner from about 30 yards (meters).
Filling in at full back in an emergency, the Hungary captain — typically an attacking midfielder — did his best impression of now-departed right back Trent Alexander with a top-quality strike that was out of keeping with the rest of the game.
It’s now three straight wins to open the season for Liverpool, the defending champion.
For Arsenal, it was a first loss and first goal conceded — extending its winless record at Anfield dating back to 2012.
New season, same issues for City
The defeat at Brighton followed a 2-0 home loss to Tottenham last weekend for City, which is demonstrating the same vulnerabilities and brittleness it showed last season when surrendering the title to Liverpool after four consecutive years as champions.
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“This is the reality — we are not at the level from a long time (ago),” said City midfielder Rodri, the reigning Ballon d’Or winner who was starting in the league for the first time since September last year following a serious knee injury.
Brajan Gruda surged through an open defense, rounded goalkeeper James Trafford and slotted into an empty net for the 89th-minute winner for Brighton, which trailed to Erling Haaland’s first-half strike — his 88th goal in 100 Premier League appearances since moving to England in 2022.
City conceded an equalizer in the 67th minute after Matheus Nunes raised his arm in the area to block a shot, with James Milner converting the penalty for Brighton to become — at age 39 years and 239 days — the second-oldest scorer in Premier League history. He is also the second youngest, having netted as a 16-year-old for Leeds.
With City noticeably fading, Brighton created a succession of chances before Gruda converted one to seal a repeat of his team’s come-from-behind 2-1 win over City last season.
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City’s only points so far this season have come from a 4-0 opening-round win at Wolverhampton, after which pundits were saying Guardiola’s team was back. Now, it has fewer points than Manchester United.
