Man City 1—0 Brentford: Haaland Hits Target, Again

PEP GUARDIOLA said there was no room for slip-ups in what looks set to be a nip-and-tuck title race.

Luckily for Manchester City, the only one here came from Brentford defender Kristoffer Ajer.

The defender stumbled 19 minutes from time under pressure from his countryman Erling Haaland – of all people.

Eat your heart out Steven Gerrard.

And he would have known better than anyone that when it’s Haaland stood nearby, you know what happened next.

The forward answered his critics by bursting through on goal and beating Mark Flekken for his 17th league goal of the season.

Did anyone really doubt him?

He missed nine chances in the draw against Chelsea on Saturday and for the first time there were a few questions about him.

Yet the former Borussia Dortmund forward provided the answer in the only way he knows to put City firmly back on heels of Liverpool.

It was also a good time for Haaland to complete the set.

He had scored against every Prem team in his 18 months in England – apart from Brentford. Well he has now.

Thomas Frank sprang a surprise by leaving out Neal Maupay – who was involved In a heated row with Kyle Walker when the two teams met 15 days ago.

Eight of the greatest players to never win the Ballon d’Or despite their incredible careers
That meant the pair were spared an awkward handshake when the teams lined up before the game.

Yet Guardiola had a surprise up his sleeve too, leaving Kevin De Bruyne on the bench and giving a first Prem start to Oscar Bobb.

Former Borussia Dortmund forward Haaland looked up for it as he won possession on the wing but then fired his shot straight at Flekken.

Phil Foden, given a more central role in the absence of KDB, saw a stinging volley blocked then dragged another shot wide.

And Haaland – who wasted NINE chances against Chelsea at the weekend – saw a header and a volley go too high.

City had been well on top without getting their noses in front and they were almost caught out when Yoanne Wissa’s delightful pass sent Frank Onyeka away.

He shot tamely straight at Ederson – much to the dismay of Ivan Toney who was in a much better position to score.

The Bees forward took out his frustration on a 25 yard free-kick that whistled over the bar – but City were not having things their own way.

Rodri’s pass to the back post was nodded back across goal by Kyle Walker and Bernardo Silva got his bearings all wrong and planted his header wide.

Manuel Akanji’s dipping 25-yarder was pushed over by Flekken, who also got down well to palm away a Ruben Dias header.

The Bees keeper had an outstanding first half in the reverse fixture earlier this month – despite eventually conceding three – and was doing his bit again.

Watching Netherlands international boss Ronald Koeman must have been impressed.

When the Dutchman was finally beaten after some clever play from Bobb he was rescued by a goalline clearance from former City youth captain Ben Mee.

Just like in their games here against Everton and Chelsea, the treble winners had been below par in the first half.

Even so, they had managed 17 efforts on goal in the first half – six of them on target – but had not found a way through.

And Onyeka fired a warning that the Bees still posed a danger as his header needed a flying save from Ederson on the stroke of half-time.

You had to admire the way Frank’s men had dusted themselves down and regrouped after a thumping at the hands of Liverpool on Saturday.

Guardiola was trying to gee up the crowd in the early minutes of the second half but there was little from his team to get them going.

The manager made a change on the hour – throwing on Jeremy Doku in place of Bobb as his team had gone flat.

With the whole game on a knife edge, the last thing City needed to see was Maupay entering the stage a few minutes later.

He was booed onto the pitch but as one of the Prem’s leading pantomime villains he would probably have liked that.

He’d have liked the clattering challenge he got from- yep, you guessed it – Walker a few minutes later a little less.

Foden had a sight of goal when the ball was worked out to him on the edge of the box – but skied it miles over the bar.

It was beginning to look like it wasn’t going to be City’s night.

But when you have Haaland in your team, you always have a chance.

And after good work from Foden and Julian Alvarez he burst clear, took advantage of a slip from Ajer and slotted home.

Foden had the chance to put the seal on things when he went round the keeper but Flekken did enough to push it round the post.

 

 

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