EPL: Haaland winner against Brentford sends City a point off the top

Manchester City defeated Brentford 1-0 in their English Premier League (EPL) fixture at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday evening.

The rescheduled fixture was settled by a second-half winner from Erling Haaland as the reigning champions returned to winning ways following weekend’s draw with Chelsea to put pressure on Liverpool, EPL leaders, in the title race.

A frustrating first half for Man City saw the hosts miss a flurry of chances as Manuel Akanji, Ruben Dias, and Oscar Bobb were denied by Mark Flekken, Brentford goalkeeper, while Bernardo Silva’s header also sailed off target.

Brentford also had few chances through Ivan Toney and Nigeria’s Frank Onyeka, as the scoreline stayed level at the interval.

Haaland eventually broke the deadlock on 71 minutes when he latched on to Julio Alvarez’s pass to stroke in a composed finish past Flekken.

The Norwegian had the ball in the net minutes later but was ruled out, while further chances were thwarted as the hosts saw off the visitors for all three points.

Pep Guardiola’s side are now on 56 points from 25 matches, one point behind leaders Liverpool.

Brentford, on the other hand, are in 14th position with 25 points, only five points away from a relegation place.