Bernardo Silva gives fascinating insight into how Pep Guardiola adapted to Brighton's approach

Bernardo Silva has given a fascinating insight into how Manchester City played against Brighton's new system following their win last Saturday.

The Blues bounced back from their crushing defeat to Liverpool by beating Brighton 3-1 at the Etihad.

Erling Haaland continued his remarkable exploits in front of goal as he bagged a brace, with Kevin De Bruyne also getting on the score-sheet.

But Man City didn't have it all their way as Roberto De Zerbi's side provided a stern test, with Guardiola singing the visitors' praises after the game.

The Spaniard even had an impromptu team talk on the touchline to tackle Brighton's approach.

He spoke to Haaland, Rodri and Silva, who explained that he was told to get close to the Spanish midfielder in order to feed the Norwegian striker.

"We knew that they could do man to man but we weren’t expecting it to be honest and then after five minutes we realised that they would follow us everywhere, especially in the middle, so it wasn’t easy to play," he said.

"So, Pep changed a bit what he thought was better. The change was getting me closer to Rodri, to attract them to me and try to play to Erling in between the lines. It was to give more space to him because if I was close to Erling I would cut off his space.

"So, getting me closer to Rodri and the defenders would attract more players to us and then leave our players up front with more space to run, so yeah it worked and we are very happy."

Speaking after his side's win over Brighton, Guardiola called it 'one of the toughest games' this season.

"We struggled a bit, it's one of the toughest games you could face at the moment but [it’s] three points after the defeat at Anfield," he revealed.

"[Brighton] decided to play a game man to man on the pitch, and we were lucky to have the quality for the third goal. With the ball they have incredible quality and the two guys in the middle [Alexis Mac Allister and Moises Caicedo] - they are a really good team.

"In those moments, we have to be resilient and knew the game would be tough until the end. Kevin [De Bruyne] scored a goal that was magnificent, but we would fight to the end to avoid a draw or defeat.

"Sometimes it is important to understand the game we have to play."