Our reporter Michael Plant gives his verdict after Manchester City beat Brentford in the Premier League thanks to Erling Haaland's goal.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 Manchester City recorded an important Premier League win tonight beating
00:03 Brentford 1-0 at the Etihad. It was a game that for long periods City found
00:08 really frustrating because Brentford defended really deep, were really
00:11 organised and compact and really difficult to break down for a city side.
00:16 They are so used to sweeping teams aside here at the Etihad but that certainly
00:20 wasn't the case tonight and it took until the 71st minute for City to grab
00:24 that all-important goal. The fans in truth were getting a little bit
00:27 frustrated. There was a little bit of anxiety and a bit of worry I think
00:31 amongst the supporters who were baying for Kevin De Bruyne to come off the
00:35 bench. I'll come to that in a little bit but ultimately City who I think were
00:39 really good in the first half, created lots of chances. I think it was 17 shots
00:42 in the first half. In the second half though it wasn't really the same story
00:45 because City for all their possession and for how much they moved the ball
00:49 didn't really create too many chances. We got to kind of the last 20 minutes of
00:53 the game and I was starting to wonder whether Brentford would just manage to
00:55 nick a point until Erling Haaland popped up and well did what he does best.
00:59 Managed to score a very very very important goal in this tight race. He
01:03 certainly punished a slip and a mistake from Ayr, the Brentford
01:08 defender. He slipped around the halfway line, presented the ball to Haaland who
01:12 went one-on-one with goal and well there's only one thing that's gonna happen when
01:15 Haaland's in a situation like that. He slotted it into the bottom corner and
01:18 from there really it was a bit of a procession for City who knocked the ball
01:22 both, didn't really create a huge amount of chances. Two opportunities for Phil
01:26 Foden but not much more than that and actually Brentford almost seemed
01:29 relatively happy with just the one they lost because they didn't
01:34 particularly press and try and find a way back into the game and ultimately as
01:36 I say City held on for a pretty comfortable victory. Now I did mention
01:40 Kevin De Bruyne there in the video. He said that after the match Pep Guardiola
01:45 said that De Bruyne has actually felt a little niggle in his hamstring recently.
01:48 Now important to mention that De Bruyne has missed five months of this season
01:52 with a long-term hamstring injury. That he only came back in January from
01:56 that problem and Guardiola really repeated on several occasions that the
02:01 player shouldn't be rushed back, should be given all the time that he needs to
02:04 make sure that he doesn't suffer a recurrence of the problem. But
02:07 Guardiola, he didn't seem too concerned about it I have to say. He did say that it was a
02:10 precaution more than anything. That he just felt a little twinge in his
02:13 hamstring and he decided not to risk him tonight. So it'd be interesting to see if
02:17 he is involved at the weekend against Bournemouth. But for now anyway, at least
02:20 for 24 hours it moves City back to one point behind Liverpool who are top of
02:24 the table. We've got a really good title race in our hand now because Liverpool,
02:27 Arsenal and City, they really aren't dropping many points at the moment. You
02:31 probably have to say that it's actually Arsenal and Liverpool who are slightly in
02:34 better form than City. Although City were points at 14 wins and 16 to disagree
02:38 with that. But maybe not at their best once again tonight. But still finding
02:41 ways to get past teams, finding ways to earn three points and ultimately finding
02:45 ways to score important goals. Another clean sheet as well now that's two and
02:49 three having gone only have one in 13. So that's encouraging sign for City.
02:54 They'll hope that De Bruyne is back soon. They'll hope that Haaland can continue his
02:57 scoring form. Guardiola spoke after the match and actually said that you know
03:01 Haaland had a couple of questions asked at the weekend because he had missed
03:05 nine chances. But Guardiola I think he said something like if you criticize him
03:08 he'll shut your mouth or along those lines something like that. And it was
03:11 I think Guardiola pointed as well the fact that obviously Haaland lost one of his
03:16 grandparents last week and you know obviously that impacted him as well.
03:20 And Guardiola said he didn't discuss that as such with the player.
03:23 Perhaps it's not a surprise that maybe he wasn't at his sharpest last week.
03:26 But as I say important three points for City who close that gap to Liverpool.
03:30 Haaland back scoring goals and they'll just hope that De Bruyne is back and
03:33 available for the next game against Bournemouth.