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Three points for Manchester City.
Full time: Brentford 0-1 Manchester City
Erling Haaland 1-0 Brentford. After a dominant first half display, City trudged towards an important win. Thiago had the only real clear cut chance for Brentford in a drab second half. Guardiola’s 250th Premier League win was an ugly one.
90+2 min: Fábio Carvalho is on for Kristoffer Ajer. Will he produce some late drama?
90+1 min: Aaron Hickey wins the ball on the edge of the area and smashes the ball way over the bar.
90 min: There will be four minutes of additional time.
88 min: Are Manchester City comfortable enough to seeing this one out? Donnarumma tries to clear the ball but Schade closes him down and forces a corner. Brentford have a chance.
85 min: O’Reilly throws the ball forward towards Haaland in the box. The Norwegian tries to hold off van den Berg, but the defender has learned from the goal and shepherds the ball out of play.
80 min: There’s a lull as we head into the closing stages of the game. Manchester City are no longer cruising but Brentford having struggled to create many clear cut opportunities. Will Thiago rue that miss earlier in the half?
75 min: Bobb and Reijnders make way for Jérémy Doku and Bernardo Silva.
71 min: Yehor Yarmoliuk has gone down with an injury. Frank Onyeka comes on, along with Vitaly Janelt who replaces Henderson.
68 min: Henderson is imposing himself on this game. This time he goes careering into Phil Foden and receives a yellow card for his troubles. A bit more quality and Brentford could be back in the game.
66 min: Thiago makes way for Dango Ouattara. Mathias Jensen is on for Mikkel Damsgaard.
64 min: Haaland receives the ball outside of the box tries to turn provider. He edges towards the box and tries to pass the ball to Foden but it’s too close to Kelleher.
Tim Stappard is a fed up City fan:
“Messing around as usual. They don’t seem to learn. Even from a few days ago. Ridiculous.”
Brentford have come out a different team in the second half.
58 min: It’s Henderson again. He plays a delicious through ball into the path of Thiago but it’s slightly out of the striker’s reach.
55 min: Jordan Henderson misplaces a pass to his teammate. In true Hendo fashion, the midfielder chases his own pass before closing Donnarumma down. He’s unable to win it back but his huffing and puffing earns a cheer from the home fans.
54 min: Sensing Brentford growing into the game, Manchester City take the sting out of it by keeping the ball.
47 min: Huge chance for Thiago! Brentford play a long ball over the top and over O’Reilly’s head. Thiago is through on goal and staring Gianluigi Donnarumma down. The Manchester City keeper makes himself big and the striker hits the ball straight at him. That finish was a far cry from his screamer against Manchester United.
46 min: Keith Andrews has opted against making any substitutions after a dismal first half. He did send the team out slightly early though.
Peep!
Manchester City get us going again.
A message from Nick Kennedy:
“Kevin Schade getting a yellow himself for urging the ref to brandish one at the close of the first half, pure, ahem schadenfreude for poor sportsmanship.”
That was probably the funniest moment of the first half. Thank you for reminding me.
Here’s a message from Allan Castle:
“Hi Xaymaca. Was that not the most Haaland of goals? Hanging on the shoulder of the defender, winning possession through a combination of sheer strength and clever positioning, holding two opponents off with his power, using his pace to get free, and then a complete rocket of a shot. As much as (for example) I want Gyökeres to come good for Arsenal once he finds his range, I look at that finish and have to say Haaland will always be on another planet.”
I agree with you.
Half time: Brentford 0-1 Manchester City
That’s got to be one of the most comfortable first halves you’re going to see in the Premier League. Manchester City are in cruise control while Brentford haven’t registered a shot on target.
44 min: Brentford haven’t had a sniff in this first half. Manchester City will be disappointed that it’s only 1-0.
We’ve got an answer to Jeremy’s question from Kári Tulinius:
“Foden fractured two fingers during the season before last, and from what I gather it’s never fully healed. Benzema had a similar injury and he would’ve needed a surgery to reset the bones, but he decided to just play bandaged as the recovery from the operation would’ve meant being sidelined for months. I don’t know if Foden made the same decision.”
Ta very much.
38 min: What a save! Manchester City work it well again, this time down the left. Nico O’Reilly crosses the ball deep into the box for Reijnders to meets it on the full with a volley. Kelleher makes a smart reaction save.
34 min: Bobb has been excellent so far. He’s been involved in many of Manchester City’s best moves.
30 min: Reijnders plays a magnificent through ball to Bobb. The winger races away from the Brentford defenders before pulling the ball back for Foden. He decides to shoot with his unfavoured right foot and it’s well wide of the post.
A question from Jeremy:
“Grealish earlier, and now Foden and Haaland seem all to be back to something like their best this season. Does anyone know what is the story with Foden’s permanently bandaged middle fingers on his right hand?”
I’m not sure. I’ll leave the readers to answer this question.
26 min: Bobb finds Foden with a firm pass into the middle. The midfielder, always on the half turn, drives forward and takes aim. His shot is deflected and harmlessly lands in Kelleher’s arms.
23 min: Brentford have struggled to make their mark on this game so far. Igor Thiago has only had three touches of the ball.
19 min: Rodri is down with an injury. After such a long time out with an anterior cruciate ligament injury, he looks completely crestfallen. Nico González comes on to replace him.
18 min: Manchester City are strutting their stuff. First, Matheus Nunes ghosts past his defender before playing the ball to Oscar Bobb on the right. Bobb fires the ball into Tijjani Reijnders, who lays it off for Phil Foden to strike first-time. It’s a comfortable save for Kelleher.
15 min: Phil Foden picks up the ball in space and slips it through to Haaland. The striker runs into the box and cuts it back but it’s cleared away by a Brentford defender. Warning signs for Brentford.
GOAL! Brentford 0-1 Manchester City (Haaland, 9)
He’s done it! Manchester City clip a ball over the top to Haaland. Playing on the shoulder of the last defender, Haaland pins Sepp van den Berg before shrugging him off. He takes a moment to adjust, get the ball out of his feet and fire past Caoimhin Kelleher. A classic striker’s goal.
4 min: Haaland drops to the edge of the area to link up play for Manchester City. His ability to help his teammates out in the build up seems much improved this season.
3 min: Manchester City are trying to set the tempo early in this game. So far Brentford seem content to hit it long on the counter.
Kick off
Brentford get us going. They’re kicking from right to left.
The two teams are out on the pitch. They’re observing a minute’s silence for the victims of the recent attack at a Manchester synagogue.
Here’s a message from Mary:
“Xaymaca, greetings from California. The world is going to shite. I should be despondent. But Everton is seventh in the table and I can’t wipe the smile off my face. Shallow escapism? Yes. So be it.”
Be sure to check out Andy Hunter’s Everton v Crystal Palace match report.
On those teams
Jordan Henderson has earned a place in Thomas Tuchel’s England squad again as we head into the international break. It’s a decision that would have raised eyebrows a couple of months but seems entirely justified based on the midfielder’s recent form. Hendo’s defence splitting through ball for Igor Thiago last week was a thing of beauty.
His counterpart Phil Foden misses out despite his rich vein of form. Pep Guardiola said: “If he [Foden] keeps on playing like he is, then he will be back [in the England squad].” He’s scored six goals in three games against Brentford at the Gtech Stadium.
Meanwhile, the Manchester City manager himself said of their first few games of the season:
“The improvement can be better, reading what the opponent does, spaces to attack, the feeling we’re creating again, the tempo and pace that’s really good and attack more fluid and more consistently, we can do some movements that we can do better, and I love that.”
On the eve of a potentially historic result for Pep Guardiola, the Brentford manager Keith Andrews reflected on the Manchester City manager’s legacy:
“He’s probably been the best manager of the last 15 years, in the modern era; the way he’s coached the game, the way he’s changed the way the game is perceived and played at different clubs and in different countries.”
The teams
Brentford: Kelleher, Collins, van den Berg, Ajer, Kayode, Damsgaard, Henderson, Yarmoliuk, Hickey, Schade, Thiago
Subs: Carvalho, Henry, Janelt, Jensen, Lewis-Potter, Onyeka, Ouattara, Pinnock, Valdimarsson
Manchester City: Donnarumma, Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol, O’Reilly, Rodri, Savinho, Reijnders, Foden, Bobb, Haaland
Subs: Aké, Cherki, Doku, González, Kovačić, Lewis, Silva, Stones, Trafford
Preamble
Hello and welcome to minute-by-minute coverage of this Premier League game between Brentford and Manchester City at the Gtech Stadium. Today’s match is the battle of the No 9s.
In the red corner is Igor Thiago. Up until Antoine Semenyo’s heroics against Fulham on Friday, the Brazilian was the joint-second highest scorer in the league with four goals in six games. He’s remarkably efficient with a 40% goal conversion rate, as his first goal against Manchester United highlighted.
In the blue corner is Erling Haaland. The Norwegian has been Manchester City’s brightest spark this season. He’s scored 17 goals in 10 games for club and country and is once again doing Haaland things. He’s never scored at the Gtech before though so he’ll be keen to break his duck.
A win for Keith Andrew’s side would make it back to back wins against the two Manchester teams. For Pep Guardiola, today is a chance to record a 250th Premier League win as Manchester City manager. A win would make him the fastest manager to achieve such a feat with one Premier League club.
Kick off is at 4:30pm. Send me your questions and comments via email.
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