He did not show his best version and paid dearly for it in the Etihad Stadium at the end. Manchester City lost 2-1 to Brentford for the 16th date and missed a great chance to beat Arsenal at the top of the Premier League. She even cleared the way for him to escape.
Unlike what is customary on each matchday, this time it was not an easy task for those led by Pep Guardiola. From the beginning, his rival managed to complicate it and throughout the 90 minutes, his lack of effectiveness exposed him in a game that left him with nothing.
From the outset, those led by Thomas Frank with two consecutive plays in which they demanded Ederson with two great saves. First, with a one-on-one with Bryan Mbeumo and shortly after, he recovered from a bad start, with a save against an Ivan Toney shot.
However, the goalkeeper was powerless against a header over his figure from Toney himself, who connected after David Raya’s free kick from David Raya’s own half went down the same path. And the Citizens needed Phil Foden to match him.
In the first instance he tried with a shot from the left that the goalkeeper rejected at the corner kick, but towards the end he found the key to the goal. Kevin De Bruyne took a corner from the right, the ball was inside the area, and Foden did not spare with an unstoppable high left foot.
For the complement, the local tried to advance lines, be more compact and generate the danger that they lacked in the first half. Precisely, he achieved it in terms of the collective, but he was not forceful and he missed several occasions to turn the story around in Manchester.
Joao Cancelo had it with a shot that deflected on the road and went near the post. Ilkay Gündogan also after a good move associated with Erling Haaland, but finished high. And the Bees also had theirs in duplicate in which they almost got ahead again.
Toney perked up with a volley over the edge of the area that Ederson parried to his left, and shortly after, Rico Henry reached the baseline from the left and launched a down the line pass that Toney was preparing to push into the net, but Aymeric Laporte cleared it. On the line.
Later, Rodri responded and demanded Raya with a shot from mid-range that he took from the left corner. Then, Cancelo tried again with a strong shot from outside that the goalkeeper rejected again with a good save. And then he did it with De Bruyne.
With the entry of Julián Álvarez in the closing, he went to look for him to try to maintain the streak of 16 wins in a row at home. Even with the time expired, Toney broke it by defining with the bow at his mercy after a lethal counter led by Yoane Wissa with a great run.
With the break for the Qatar 2022 World Cup, Manchester City will return to the ring only at the end of the year with the commitment for the round of 16 of the EFL Cup against Liverpool on December 20. Then, on the 28th, they will visit Leeds in the resumption of the Premier League.
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