Brentford came to the Etihad being the last team to beat City (and still are MIkel!!) on their own turf, and got off to a dream start where Wissa’s header found the top corner after a Stones and Ederson mix up (0.34xG). Mbeumo had a fantastic chance on four minutes after Damsgaard continued his fine form and won the ball back towards the final third, played in Bryan only for Rico Lewis to block Mbeumo a total of three times to prevent us doubling our lead (0.19xG).
We were looking like the best team in the world in the opening stages of the game, and Collin’s guided shot (0.14xG) from a corner was unfortunately straight at Ederson, but kept the City fans quiet as Brentford looked to be the dominant force in the game.
However, it was Haaland who was the difference in the first half, after his two goals (worth a combined 0.45xG) in the 20th and 32nd minute gave City the lead going into the break.
We kept on top of our game, despite City returning to… well City – Pinnock had a header saved by Ederson, and KLP had a good opportunity at the end of the half where we faked his man but his final shot wasn’t too convincing and was a routine save for Ederson.
It took up to the 68th minute for City’s cumulative xG to overtake ours, despite being 2-1 down. The defence (particularly Collins) were well drilled and excelled at keeping City at bay, particularly when the onslaught started.
City came out on top in the second half whilst Brentford sat deep – the Bees did not have a shot that registered xG until 90+1, where Yehor was in great space to slot home, but his shot was tame.
50% of City’s shots were taken outside 18yds, and the higher xG City shots in the second half were well saved and blocked by the Bees and kept the score down.
The performance was something to be extremely proud of and was arguably a better performance than the one where we beat city 2 years ago.
Sepp Van den Berg looked as if he had been in the squad for years. Damsgaard, Collins and Flekken all continued their stella start to the season and will be key members of the squad this season.