LONDON, United Kingdom, Oct 5 – Erling Haaland continued his prolific form as Manchester City battled to a narrow 1-0 victory over Brentford and gave boss Pep Guardiola his 250th Premier League win.
Guardiola is the 16th manager to reach the milestone with a single club, but has done so in just 349 games – 74 games quicker than anyone else.
Haaland outmuscled Sepp van den Berg to gather Josko Gvardiol’s looping cross, then wriggled away from the defender before precisely slotting past Caoimhin Kelleher.
It is the Norwegian striker’s third goal this week and his 18th in 11 games for club and country this season.
City had to hold on to their slim lead at the Gtech Community Stadium for more than 80 minutes but limited Brentford to few opportunities, despite the game opening up somewhat in a scrappy second half.
Victory moves City up to fifth before the international break, but there was concern for midfielder Rodri when he hobbled off with injury after just 21 minutes.
The Spaniard missed much of last season with an anterior cruciate ligament injury and is yet to return to the form that won him the Ballon d’Or last year.
Brentford analysis: Defensive Bees suffer first home defeat
Victory against Manchester United last time out was a welcome result for the Bees who had earned just four points from their first five games.
Despite a somewhat disappointing start to the campaign, Brentford had not yet lost at home this season.
Under Thomas Frank, Brentford were often a problem team for Guardiola and were the only side to do the double over City in the Treble-winning campaign two years ago.
New Bees boss Keith Andrews, in his first managerial role, opted for a back five on Sunday with Kristoffer Ajer coming in for Dango Ouattara – and it left them starved of opportunities in the first 45 minutes.
For the first time in their 159 Premier League games, Brentford failed to record a single touch in their opponent’s penalty area in the first half.
The game opened up more after the break, with Michael Kayode heading over the bar while Brentford limited City to just one shot in a flat but scrappy second half.
The hosts’ best chance came when Igor Thiago, who has scored five goals this season, found himself one on one with Gianluigi Donnarumma but the Italian keeper saved well.
Defeat leaves Brentford 16th in the table with two wins from seven matches.
