Manchester City took advantage of Liverpool’s defeat in the top match: Thanks to three-pointer Foden, the champions won 3-1 at Brentford and reduced the gap to the leaders
178 days Man City fans have been waiting for this moment: De Bruyne and Haaland were on the pitch together at Brentford for the first time since the opening game of the current Premier League season. The Norwegian was one of four new signings alongside Walker, Ruben Dias and Bernardo Silva on his return to the starting eleven after a good two months. The quartet were replaced on the bench by Lewis, Stones, Matheus Nunes and Doku in the 3-1 defeat to Burnley.
However, the reunited duo still lacked a connection: only in the eighth minute did De Bruyne find Haaland, who could only shoot at Pinnock. Overall, a dominant Man City found it difficult to penetrate the final third against a tight Brentford defense. For this reason, Alvarez (10, 14) and Walker tried their luck with long-range shots (14), which did not pose any major problems for ex-Freiburg man Flekken.
The keeper not only proved himself on the line, but also provided the assist shortly afterwards: Flekken’s long low drive ended up in the path of goalscorer Maupay because Toney Aké had cleverly blocked it – the 1-0 was the first shot on goal for the Bees, for whom winter newcomer Reguilon made his starting eleven debut.
How did the Citizens react? Almost with an immediate response: Haaland did not accept Janelt’s gift (23′). However, the visitors also needed Brentford’s help to pose a serious threat. This was also the case in stoppage time of the first half – when Foden took advantage of Pinnock’s mistake to equalize (45.+3).
In the middle of Brentford’s best phase, Foden makes the difference
Shortly after the break, Foden added his second goal. The homegrown player nodded De Bruyne’s perfect cross into the net (53′). However, the Bees were not shocked and then had their best spell. The equalizer was not to come, however, as Nörgaard failed to beat Ruben Dias (60′) and Toney (67′) missed.
It was in the middle of this period that Man City made the final decision: Foden was practically single-handedly responsible for the away win with his treble (70′). In the closing stages, the pass-happy Citizens kept the west Londoners far away from their own goal and celebrated their ninth win in a row in all competitions
ManCity’s 3-1 win also proved to be the beneficiary of leaders Liverpool’s defeat at Arsenal – and reduced the gap to the Reds to two points. In addition, the Sky Blues, who won their fourth away game in a row after falling behind, still have a game in hand
