Haaland, who had not scored in his last two games for City, endured more frustration in the first half despite his best efforts. Toney and Manuel Akanji both came close with efforts from range, with the Man City defender seeing his shot tipped over.
The tension grew at the Etihad as City toiled in the final third. The mood wasn’t helped by the sight of Silva missing from five yards out. Bobb also had a shot cleared off the line by Ben Mee as Brentford clung on.
City showed no sign of finding a breakthrough after the break as Brentford kept them at bay. The visiting side again showed more promise going forward and could have seen Toney test Ederson one-on-one had Onyeka found the striker with a through ball.
As the wait for a goal went on, the decision to leave De Bruyne on the bench looked more and more puzzling. Guardiola later explained he was not risked due to a niggle in his hamstring.
Brentford’s resistance was broken after an unfortunate slip by Ajer, which allowed Haaland clean through, as the Bees were made to pay for their profligacy for a second game running after the 4-1 defeat to Liverpool.
Haaland finished convincingly past Flekken, scoring his first goal against Brentford, to claim a Premier League full house and secure a vital win for his side, who are now 10 games unbeaten in the league ahead of a decisive month in the title race.
Pep praises City and reveals De Bruyne injury
Man City manager Pep Guardiola:
“Brentford are such a difficult team to play against. Last season they took six points from us. They are incredibly organised. Toney is a master player at keeping the ball, he’s an incredible player.
“After that they are really good in all details, throw ins and free kicks and so on.
“We played a really good game, we had a lot of chances considering how tough it is to create against them. Our game in hand, we won it and now we recover. Now we come to the toughest period of the season.”
On his missing captain, he added: “Today we could not use Kevin because he had niggles in his hamstring and I didn’t want to take a risk,” he said, adding: “He’s okay. It’s just a precaution but he didn’t feel comfortable and so after five months off we didn’t take any risk.”
Mills backing City to win title again
Former Man City defender Danny Mills on Soccer Special:
“It was a fantastic finish from Erling Haaland through one on one. Clearly he is not lacking in any confidence.
“Brentford were unfortunate, their gameplan was almost perfect. It was nine, 10, 11 men behind the ball at times and they frustrated City.
“But as champions do, City found a way. Games like that you have to win. City have managed to do that.
“It’s going to be a fantastic title race but my money is still on City.
“City have big games to come but if they come through that unscathed they are almost champions elect.”
Frank on slip: City don’t need that luck!
Brentford boss Thomas Frank:
“Incredibly proud of the team and very pleased with the performance. We know they are the best team in the league and the world – very difficult to close down.
“We limited them to very little. The Bernardo Silva header and the Bobb chance that was cleared off the line. Until the goal, because of the slip. They are good enough, they don’t need that luck to get them over the line.
“For me in the second half we were in control defensively. I think we were getting close to getting something and we had a few opportunities. We are back to that high level defensive urgency, which I am pleased with.
“It seems the margins are not going our way but we need to keep believing.”
Opta stats: Man City’s unbeaten home run continues
- Manchester City stretched their unbeaten home run in all competitions to 35 games (W30 D5), while they’ve found the net in each of their last 54 at the Etihad Stadium.
- Man City’s Erling Haaland has now scored against all 21 teams he’s faced in the Premier League – he’s just the second player to have faced more than one side and scored against all of them in the competition, after Harry Kane (32/32).
- Erling Haaland’s opener for Man City was the seventh time he’s scored the first goal in a Premier League match this season, more than any other player. It also ended up being his fifth winning goal in the competition this term, with no player netting more (Ollie Watkins also 5).
- Brentford have lost 11 of their last 14 Premier League games (W3), as many as they had in their previous 46 combined (W18 D17).
