Match Report & Player Ratings: Manchester City 3-0 Brentford (Premier League) | OneFootball

Manchester City closed the gap to Premier League leaders Arsenal with a 3-0 win over Brentford at the City in the Community Etihad Stadium on Saturday evening.

The Blues made two changes to the starting XI as Tijjani Reijnders and Nathan Ake came in for Nico Gonzalez and Abdukodir Khusanov respectively, the latter being unfit and missing the matchday squad.

Josko Gvardiol and Rodri remained absent for City but Ruben Dias was back amongst the substitutes as the Blues looked to return to winning ways after slipping up against Everton earlier this week.

Brentford, who are chasing European football for next season, posed a difficult challenge for City in the first-half, keeping the hosts at bay and threatening to take a lead on the break.

Guardiola threw on attackers Phil Foden and Omar Marmoush to influence proceedings early in the second-half, with Jeremy Doku maintaining his fine run of form with a stunning opener curled into the top right corner on the hour mark.

Goal difference can decide a finely-contested title race and Erling Haaland doubled his side’s lead with 15 minutes left on the clock before teeing in Marmoush in cap off a sumptuous team move on the counter late on.

City will be hoping that West Ham can hand them a favour against Arsenal at the London Stadium on Sunday as Guardiola’s side hope for a Gunners slip-up in the final weeks of the season.

Here’s how we rated the Manchester City players from a crucial 3-0 win over Brentford!

Starting XI:

Gianluigi Donnarumma – 6.5/10

Did his job when called upon and was neat in possession.

Matheus Nunes – 6.5/10

Linked well with Semenyo on the right and dealt well with Brentford’s pace on the wings. Received a yellow for squaring up to Jordan Henderson in an altercation with Bernardo Silva.

Marc Guehi – 6/10

Calm, assured and no-nonsense after a costly error against Everton. Much better.

Nathan Ake – 6.5/10

Thrown in for Khusanov and he sprayed loads of passes into midfield and coped well with the task at hand.

Nico O’Reilly – 6/10

Got into the box as frequently as he usually does but credit to Brentford’s defending in the first-half that they managed to keep his influence limited. Defensively solid but looked to tire towards the end.

Bernardo Silva – 7/10

A real captain’s performance as he rallied the troops on in the second-half but demanding the ball and finding Doku on the left to cause havoc in the Bees backline.

Tijjani Reijnders – 5.5/10

Would have liked to have a greater impact on proceedings because he did well on a rare start but failed to find the cutting edge in attack as Cherki so often does.

Rayan Cherki – 6/10

Not his most influential display but there were many moments of inspiration from the architect-in-chief, who remains City’s go-to creator in and around the box.

Antoine Semenyo – 7/10

Has suffered a slight dip in output after a surreal start to life at City but he made it count today by playing a key role to set up an important second goal for his side.

Jeremy Doku – 8/10 (POTM)

No words needed. Outrageously good, on and off the ball.

Erling Haaland – 7.5/10

He has been frustrated with his finishing and lack of precision in recent months but a scrappy yet deserved goal for the Norwegian before a lovely assist for Marmoush to put the icing on the cake.

Substitutes:

Omar Marmoush – 7/10

Scored his second goal of the season with an expertly taken strike to round off a team move that would have delighted his manager.

Phil Foden – 6/10

He’s really trying to turn a corner and was visibly frustrated, like Guardiola, as he saw a few efforts thwarted by Caoimhín Kelleher but still, a positive cameo from the Englishman.

Savinho – N/A