Brentford 0-1 Manchester City: Relentless Haaland drags City to fifth in the table | OneFootball

Erling Haaland continued his impressive goalscoring form as Pep Guardiola’s side dug deep to take all three points from West London.

As it happened

Manchester City have endured a mixed start to their Premier League season so far, with Guardiola’s side already tasting defeat twice at the hands of Brighton and Spurs. This has led to some fans feeling another season of transition and frustration may be on the cards for The Citizens.

However, following Chelsea’s late victory over Liverpool, City came into their fixture against Brentford knowing a win would take them just three points behind new league leaders Arsenal. Brentford, also in a period of transition, have started the season inconsistently but after an impressive result at home to Manchester United in their last outing, they had every right to be optimistic.

City started well as their formidable attack looked to get ahead early and they quickly found an opening through the inevitable Haaland. The Norwegian striker outmuscled Sepp van den Berg to bring down Gvardiol’s long ball, before wriggling away from the defender and smashing the ball past Caoimhin Kelleher. It was Haaland’s third goal this week and his 18th goal in 11 games for club and country. He currently leads the goalscoring charts in the Premier League having already netted nine times, three more than second placed Antoine Semenyo.

It wasn’t all positive for City, though, as Ballon d’or winner Rodri was forced off for a hamstring issue inside the opening 25 minutes and had to be replaced by Nico González. Rodri has endured multiple injury set-backs since returning from his ACL injury he suffered at the beginning of last season, providing more headaches in midfield for Pep Guardiola.

The away side had to be patient and disciplined as they defended their slender lead at the Gtech Community Stadium. Tijjani Reijnders nearly saw his impressive volley head into the top corner, but he was denied by an acrobatic stop from Kelleher. Elsewhere, Brentford grew into the game with attempts from Igor Thiago and Kevin Schade testing Gianluigi Donnarumma.

The game began to open up somewhat as Jordan Henderson started to make an influence for The Bees, but City’s defence withstood the pressure.

Despite having to defend their slim lead for over 80 minutes, City rarely gave away control and looked confident throughout. Their victory against Brentford moves City up to fifth in the table before the international break, as Guardiola’s side continue to quietly stake a claim in the title race.

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