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Matt O'Riley sparks wild Brighton scenes as ex Celtic star stuns Pep Guardiola and extends Man City's losing streak

Matt O'Riley scores Brighton winner against Man City on EPL debut to spark wild scenes
-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)


Matt O'Riley would have been dreaming of this script MONTHS ago after his mega money move to the EPL from Celtic.

But you can bet this fairytale moment will mean just as much to him now after returning from his injury with a bang by netting the winning goal against champions Manchester City on his English top flight debut. O'Riley - a fans' favourite at Parkhead - latched onto a neat pass before showing excellent composure to fire past Ederson and send the home support wild. The scenes were just as big on the park as the midfielder wheeled away in jubilation.

The defeat means incredibly Pep Guardiola has suffered FOUR defeats on the spin in all competitions with O'Riley's former boss Ange Postecoglou - who took him to Scotland - also getting one over on the City boss in the Carabao Cup just over a week ago. O'Riley's winner came just five minutes after Joao Pedro had levelled for the Seagulls after Erling Haaland's strike for the first half.

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O'Riley sustained his ankle injury after a horror tackle on his debut against Crawley Town in the League Cup following his big £25million transfer from Parkhead. That appearance only lasted nine minutes with surgery required before a period of rehabilitation to get over the injury.

Reflecting on his whirlwind winning moment, he told Sky Sports: "I just tried to make the run into the little half space. The manager kept talking about the 8s making those runs and getting diagonals out to the wide man. Sometimes, if you do that enough you end up getting on the end of it yourself. I was just lucky to be there to be honest. I can't really ask for a better Premier League debut especially after the start I had against Crawley. "

When the studio then said to him 'in the Champions League spots at the moment', he grinned: "Yeah that sounds nice!."

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