Manchester City celebrated a lackluster 1-0 victory in Brentford. However, there was not only cause for celebration for the Citizens.
Compared to the Champions League match in Monaco (2-2), ManCity coach Pep Guardiola made two changes: Matheus Nunes and Bobb came on for Stones and Bernardo Silva.
As expected, the first half was a one-sided affair. ManCity had a lot of possession and looked for gaps in the home side’s defense.
These gaps opened up, but there were no clear-cut chances.
After Haaland’s lightning start – the Norwegian beat van den Berg in the ninth minute and scored with a powerful shot – his teammates also repeatedly appeared dangerous in front of goal:
Foden (19th minute) and Reijnders (30th, 40th minutes) missed opportunities in promising situations. However, Foden (19th minute) and Reijnders (30th and 40th minutes) failed to capitalize on promising situations. The underdogs, who started with former Bundesliga players van den Berg (1. FSV Mainz 05) and Schade (SC Freiburg), relied on quick counterattacks.
However, isolated attempts were not well executed and were nipped in the bud. They lacked ideas, precision and, as a result, punch. Without creating any chances of their own, the home side went into the break 0-1 down.
Igor Thiago misses in front of Donnarumma
That was to change promptly after the break, as Brentford had the first chance: after a long ball, Igor Thiago suddenly found himself free, but failed to get past Donnarumma’s foot (50′).
Lots of idle time in the second half
After that, the game flattened out, with much of the action taking place in midfield. Manchester struggled offensively and rarely got into the dangerous zone. The same continued to be true for Brentford, who had more shots on goal but were not forceful enough.
The Skyblues managed their narrow lead relatively confidently until the final stages. However, there was no final offensive from the hard-working home side. Donnarumma did not really have to intervene and saw out the narrow 1-0 victory. The only downside was that midfield strategist Rodri had already been substituted in the first half due to injury.
ManCity will face Everton at home on the next matchday on October 18. Brentford will visit West Ham United on October 20.