Dickov and Curle praise sharpness in Brighton victory | OneFootball

Former City striker Paul Dickov believes the 4-0 victory over Brighton was one of our best performances of the season.

Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden, two, and Julian Alvarez were all on the scoresheet as we secured the three points to close the gap on leaders Arsenal to one point with a game in hand.

On the latest episode of Matchday Live, Dickov was impressed with the style and intensity of the display just days after our FA Cup semi-final win over Chelsea at Wembley.

The emphatic victory also gave Pep Guardiola the opportunity to give some rest to Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden with another tough fixture against Nottingham Forest on Sunday at 16:30 (UK).

WATCH: Brighton 0-4 City: Short highlights

“They were so sharp in everything that they did,” the City legend said.

“They were able to take Kevin off, Bernardo Silva off, Phil off and get some minutes into Jack Grealish and Jeremy Doku and managed the squad.

“It was fantastic and probably one of the best performances of the season when you take everything into consideration.”

BRIGHTON 0-4 CITY | MATCH REPORT

Foden brought up his 50th Premier League goal for City and had the possibility of his third hat-trick of the season after trebles against Brentford and Aston Villa.

But Keith Curle says the manager and squad have to think about the schedule and keep themselves in shape for another big six games between now and the end of the season.

“Definitely think about the big picture,” the ex-City defender said. “They’ve got some important games coming up and key players have got to maintain, not just their physical sharpness, but their mental sharpness as well and that hunger.

“Knowing Pep, [Phil] probably won’t start! He’s got that hunger and determination throughout the squad, which is vitally important at this stage of the season and everyone’s on the same page.

“Now its about rest and recovery and the mental approach to the game.”

Despite the strong performance, Curle says that the boss will now have his players focused on a difficult trip to Forest, who are fighting for Premier League survival.

“He will have said well done but you can imagine Pep will make sure the dressing room has got the right mental focus,” he added.

“With good players you either entertain them, challenge them or put demands on them.

“It’s another challenging game. Going into an environment where Forest are fighting for their lives and you have to respect that.

“Pep and the backroom staff will do their homework and try to identify weaknesses that they can try to exploit.”