In their Premier League matchup with Brentford, Manchester City won 1-0 on Wednesday. In the 71st minute, Erling Haaland scored, but City was still one point behind league leaders Liverpool. With 56 points from 25 games, Pep Guardiola’s team is presently second in the rankings behind leaders Liverpool, who have 57 points from 25 games.
With his goal, Haaland, a former striker for Dortmund, tied Harry Kane for a huge record. The Norwegian forward scored against every Premier League team he has faced, making him the second player in the division behind Harry Kane.
Haaland’s Heroics Propel Manchester City to Narrow Victory Over Brentford, Tightening Premier League Title Race
As City pulled within one point of leaders Liverpool in the exciting Premier League title battle, just two points now separate the top three. Erling Haaland scored the lone goal in Manchester City’s thrilling 1-0 victory over Brentford on Tuesday, according to Pep Guardiola, who added that the strike had “shut the mouths” of his detractors.
After a disappointing night in front of goal on Saturday, when City was held 1-1 at home by Chelsea, Haaland was eager to make amends.
Only recently has the Norwegian returned from a two-month injury layoff, and Guardiola revealed that off the field, he was also coming to terms with his grandmother’s passing.
However, Haaland looked more like the player he used to be in front of goal when, 19 minutes from time, he raced onto a feed from Julian Alvarez to score his 22nd goal of the campaign.
Guardiola’s remarks
A lot of goals are scored by elite attackers. He’ll stop you from criticizing if you do. He will arrive eventually,” Guardiola remarked.
“It’s not easy for a human being to lose their grandmother; he was gone for two months.”
“We spoke about the moment (missing chances against Chelsea), and I realised this later, but he didn’t say anything about the passing away of his grandmother.”
Guardiola stated that he had “niggles” in his hamstring, which is why Kevin De Bruyne was left on the bench the entire time.
The Belgian’s hamstring rupture kept him out of action for the first five months of the season.
Despite holding nearly 70% of the ball and having 25 shots on goal, City was unable to convert their dominance due to a lack of De Bruyne’s inventiveness.
Manchester City Prevail Against Brave Bees at Etihad Despite Close Calls
Fourteen months ago, the last visiting team to triumph at the Etihad was the Bees, and they had an opportunity to cause yet another major upset.
Halfway through the first half, Frank Onyeka was unable to beat Ederson one-on-one, and then Ivan Toney curled a free kick just over the bar.
Most of the action in the goal came from the other end.
Oscar Bobb, a young Norwegian, had a rare start in the first half and came the closest to scoring when Ben Mee cleared his shot off the line.
While Thomas Frank’s team held out till the half, Bernardo Silva also missed a fantastic opportunity with a header.
Arsenal and Liverpool’s aspirations dashed
A quiet start to the second quarter would have enhanced Liverpool and Arsenal’s prospects of receiving a second unlikely gift from City in the title battle in four days.
But City is still very much in the running to become the first team in history to win the English Premier League four times in a row.
Haaland finally got the chance he had been waiting for when Brentford defender Kristoffer Ajer made a mistake. He raced clear on goal and maintained his calm to score for just the third time in his past eight outings.
“I am really proud of myself. “Until the goal, which is a slip, we didn’t give much away,” Brentford manager Frank said.
“They seem adequate to me. To cross the line, they don’t require such good fortune!”
Given that goal differential might still decide the winner, City ought to have increased their lead.
When the teams met earlier this month, City won 3-1 in west London thanks to a hat-trick from Phil Foden.
However, Flekken denied the England international twice in the closing moments of the game. First, the goalkeeper parried a quick shot, and then Foden attempted to run around him, but Flekken rose up well to block.
