Man City 1-0 Brentford: Player ratings as Haaland strike sinks spirited Bees
Manchester City managed a narrow 1-0 win over Brentford on Tuesday evening as they moved to second in the Premier League table.
After a goalless first half, it was Erling Haaland's well-taken effort that proved the difference between the two sides, with the reigning champions doing just enough to topple a spirited Brentford side.
The result moves the Cityzens within a point of Liverpool at the top of the table as they continue their hunt for a fourth successive Premier League title.
After a slip-up in the title race against Chelsea last Saturday,Man City were well aware that a victory was all that would suffice from Brentford's visit to the Etihad. The pattern of the match was quickly established as well, with Pep Guardiola's side camped inside the visitors' half from the first kick.
Despite Man City's territorial dominance, it was Brentford who had the best chance of the opening 20 minutes. Yoane Wissa brought the ball down beautifully in the centre circle before releasing Frank Onyeka with an accurate through ball, but the midfielder produced a tame effort that was easily held by Ederson.
Ivan Toney came close with a free kick shortly afterwards, while Julian Alvarez was guilty of spurning a number of half-chances at the other end as he struggled to find his shooting boots.
Man City's best moments of a goalless opening 45 minutes came towards the end of the first half, with Bernardo Silva heading wide from close range and Manuel Akanji seeing his long-range effort tipped over the crossbar by Mark Flekken.
Ben Mee then produced a wonderful goal-line clearance from Oscar Bobb's effort to deny the champions the lead heading into the break.
Brentford continued to show their resilience in the early stages of the second
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