Erling Haaland completed his full set of Premier League scalps by scoring Man City's matchwinner in a 1-0 win over Brentford on Tuesday night.
The Norwegian striker had scored against every team in the English top flight except the Bees heading into the contest and with the scores level midway through the second-half, it looked like another potential blank may be on the cards.
However, a swift counter-attack in the 71st minute saw Haaland capitalise on a slip from Brentford defender Kristoffer Ajer to race through and plant a low shot past Mark Flekken in the visitors' goal.
Up to that point, the Londoners had made it a difficult night for Pep Guardiola's side: defending deep and offering a threat of their own when they went forward.
That said, the Bees were indebted to defender Ben Mee for a fantastic goal-line clearance from an Oscar Bobb shot in the first-half, and Flekken had to be sharp to make a number of other important saves.
The visitors' best attacking moments came courtesy of an Ivan Toney free-kick that dipped just over and a Frank Onyeka header at the end of the first-half that drew a flying save from Ederson in the City goal. Yoane Wissa also had a gilt-edged opportunity for a 1v1 before the interval, but he headed the ball too far in front of himself as the opportunity went begging.
After his opening goal, Haaland converted a close range header, but his delight was short-lived, as Kyle Walker was ruled offside following a VAR review.
City's hat-trick hero in their recent 3-1 win in the reverse fixture at Brentford, Phil Foden also came within a whisker of adding to City's tally, but the England international could only find the side netting after rounding Flekken late on.
The result moved the Citizens up to second in the table with 56 points, one ahead of third-placed Arsenal and just one point behind leaders Liverpool, who host Luton on Wednesday.
xG: Man City (2.78) 1-0 (0.36) Brentford
1-0 | ||
Erling Haaland 71' |
