Manchester City move to the top of the Premier League after a comfortable 4-0 win against Brighton at the Etihad Stadium.
John Stones was replaced by Nicolas Otamendi at the back, while Riyad Mahrez and Rodri returned in place of Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva as Pep Guardiola made changes to his Manchester City side from the 3-1 win at Bournemouth last week.
Adam Webster was handed a start for Brighton in place of Shane Duffy, while Bernardo came in for the suspended Florin Andone in two changes from the 2-0 defeat at home to Southampton.
City had not lost a game that kicked off at 3pm since December 2018 and that run was well on the way to being preserved when they went in front after just two minutes.
Oleksandr Zinchenko released David Silva down the left and he pulled the ball back into the middle for Kevin De Bruyne to slam in his first goal of the season.
Sergio Aguero, who had scored in all three of his Premier League games against Brighton going into the game, almost made it four but his shot across goal went wide on 15 minutes.
Riyad Mahrez then hit a shot straight down the throat of Mat Ryan and De Bruyne hit one wide on 22 minutes as City dominated.
David Silva then spurned a great chance to double City’s lead on the half-hour as he fired over from five yards after good work from Raheem Sterling down the left.
City were hit by the loss of Aymeric Laporte, who was stretchered off on 37 minutes following a clash of knees with Webster in a challenge he was also booked for.
However, the hosts did manage to take a two-goal lead into the break when Aguero got that fourth goal against the Seagulls as he collected a cross from De Bruyne and fired to the right of Ryan on 43 minutes.
Aguero extended his scoring run against Brighton as he put City 3-0 ahead in the 55th minute, collecting a pass from David Silva he cut inside and curled a wonderful right-footed effort into the top corner.
Sterling, De Bruyne and Aguero all went close to adding to City’s tally as the hosts continued to dominate proceedings.
It was Bernardo Silva who grabbed the fourth of the afternoon with his first touch after coming off the bench as he met Aguero’s through ball and scuffed his shot into the bottom corner of Ryan’s net.
City jump above Liverpool after their third win of the season, while Brighton sit down in 16th spot on four points.
