A distracted Manchester City let the three points from the Etihad Stadium slip away by losing to Brentford in their last game before the World Cup break (1-2). Two goals from striker Ivan Toney, the second in added time, embittered the cityzens and handed over the leadership of the Premier League to Arsenal, two points above and with a game in hand (play tonight against Wolverhampton).
Brentford, one of the teams with the most goals in the championship, had not been able to win away from home and did so at the home of Pep Guardiola's men. The Catalan coach lined up an eleven full of World Cup players with the only exception of Erling Haaland (Norway is not classified) and they paid to have their heads already in Qatar.
The protagonist of the afternoon in Manchester was precisely a man discarded for the World Cup event. Toney's week was being disastrous since the English federation (FA) announced that it was investigating the English striker for having bet years ago as a professional footballer and that Gareth Southgate did not include him among those called up despite his phenomenal season. With these two goals against City Toney already has 10 in the Premier, the third top scorer in the championship after Haaland and Harry Kane.
Pep Guardiola's men had reached the club record at home, with 16 consecutive games undefeated in all competitions - they had not lost since February at the Etihad. With a much more determined attitude, the bees had two heads-ups that Ederson saved in the first six minutes and hit the third, a free kick near the center of the field launched with a long shot by David Raya -one of the characteristics that They take him to the World Cup with Spain- which extended by Ben Mee, Toney finished off with a header, behind Aymeric Laporte (m.16).
He tried to activate himself from Guardiola's team, mainly through the Portuguese Bernardo Silva, but Haaland was run over and disconnected, he finished the first half with more penalty claims -for three actions to the limit of Rico Henry- than shots on goal (two). Phil Foden, however, hit the second, moments before the break, to give the English champion a bit of calm.
Therefore, in the second half, he was not spared the scare of seeing Laporte lying bleeding on the pitch, after colliding with a rival's elbow that did not prevent him from continuing to play with a bandage on his head, nor from the feeling of being vulnerable to the counterattack -Laporte himself avoided a shot at empty goal by Toney (m.71)-, despite the fact that he multiplied his arrivals in the area.
David Raya, furthermore, continued to prolong Brentford's hopes of scoring, so with Haaland unrecognizable, Guardiola turned to the Argentine Julián Álvarez for the final siege. A bugle call in the ten minute extension given by the referee that, on the contrary, served Ivan Toney to finish disarming City on the counterattack, with a goal (m.98) that did not end in a triplet due to a clearance almost on the line of De Bruyne, in the chaotic final minutes of a City that arrives in trouble at the World Cup break.
1. Manchester City: Ederson; Stones, Akanji, Report, Cancel (Julian Alvarez, m.87); De Bruyne, Rodriguez, Gundogan; Bernardo Silva, Speech, Promise.
2. Brentford: Raya; Jorgensen, Mee, Pinnock; Roerslev, Onyeka (Dasilva, m.87), Janelt (Norgaard, m.62), Jensen, Henry; Mbeumo (Wissa, m.73), Toney.
Goles: 0-1, m.16: Toney. 1-1, m.45 2: Foden. 1-2: m.90 8: Toney
Referee; Peter Banks. He booked locals Haaland and Cancelo and visiting Mbeumo and Jensen.
Incidents: Match of the fifteenth day of the Premier played at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester.
