Erling Haaland scored the only goal of the match as Manchester City edged to a 1-0 home win over Brentford to move above Arsenal in the league table.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Arsenal
ARS
|
36 | +60 | 83 |
| 2 |
Man City
MCI
|
35 | +54 | 82 |
| 3 |
Liverpool
LIV
|
36 | +43 | 78 |
Haaland's strike in the 71st minute was his 17th in the Premier League this season and means he has now scored against every side he has faced in the competition, with Brentford the last club to succumb to his powers.
The Norwegian is just the second player to have played against more than two teams in the competition and netted against all of them, after Harry Kane.
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How the match unfolded
Pep Guardiola left Kevin De Bruyne, Nathan Ake and Jeremy Doku on the bench, opting to start with Bernardo Silva, John Stones and 20-year-old Oscar Bobb, who made his first ever Premier League start.
Brentford made two changes, with Yoane Wissa replacing Neal Maupay up front for his first start since returning from the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) with DR Congo, while Frank Onyeka was recalled.
City, who had won the reverse fixture 3-1 earlier this month, showed an early sign of their intent when Haaland’s curling shot in the third minute was straight at Mark Flekken. Moments later, Wissa made a vital block to block a fearsome volley from Phil Foden.
But Brentford nearly caught Man City by surprise as Wissa played in Onyeka, who failed to capitalise with only Ederson to beat.
Thereafter the half was dominated by City, who had several chances. Haaland volleyed over. Bernardo Silva somehow headed wide eight yards out. Manuel Akanji’s 30-yard strike forced Flekken to make a fingertip save over the crossbar, before the goalkeeper also denied Ruben Dias.
The best chance was still to come for City, but Ben Mee did brilliantly to get back and clear Bobb’s effort off the line.
Meanwhile at the other end, Onyeka was left completely unmarked but his header was kept out by a diving Ederson.
City came out strongly again after the break but were unable to convert their 70 per cent possession into goals and Doku was soon introduced in search of a breakthrough, which eventually came in the 71st minute.
After a Brentford attack broke down, City drove forward and Julian Alvarez found Haaland. Kristoffer Ajer slipped at a crucial moment, leaving Haaland with a 1v1 to slot in a cool finish past the on-rushing Flekken into the bottom-left corner.
Haaland thought he had scored his and City’s second goal 10 minutes later, but his close-range header was ruled out because Kyle Walker was offside in the build-up.
There was still time for Foden and Haaland to force excellent saves from Flekken, but City had done enough to secure their win.
A second successive defeat leaves Brentford 14th on 25 points.
Club reports
Man City report | Brentford report
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Key facts
Man City stretched their unbeaten home run in all competitions to 35 matches (W30 D5), while they’ve found the net in each of their last 54 at Etihad Stadium.
Erling Haaland’s opener for Man City was the seventh time he’s scored the first goal in a Premier League match this season, more than any other player. It also ended up being his fifth winning goal in the competition this term, with no player netting more (Ollie Watkins also 5).
Brentford have lost 11 of their last 14 Premier League matches (W3), as many as they had in their previous 46 combined (W18 D17).