Early Haaland goal gives City a 1-0 victory
The Bees fell 1-0 to one of the top teams in the world. Manchester City dominated the first half, though Brentford largely controlled the second half, limiting City to a single off target shot. Igor Thiago had a big chance, but the biggest of keepers effectively neutralised the Brazilian's effort.
Milestones
The game saw three people reach impressive milestones.
Ajer's 100th appearance
Kristoffer Ajer started the game and played well throughout. This was his 100th appearance for the Bees.
Janelt's 200th appearance
Vitaly Janelt came off the bench in the second half to make his 200th appearance for the club.
Pep's 250th win
On the other side of the pitch, Man City coach Pep Guardiola became the fastest ever Premier League coach to reach 250 victories.
What was different
Goalless Bees
For the first time this season, the Bees were kept off of the score sheet. The last time they didn't score was a 0-0 draw against Chelsea in April.
Home loss
Not only did the Bees not score, they didn't manage to pick up a point at home for the first time this season. While it's true that there are no easy games in the Premier League, Man City is always a tough opponent. Liverpool is the next opponent that the Bees will face at home. They've stumbled recently but are still an impressive side that will give the Bees a tough game.
Somebody other than Foden scores for City
In the brief history of Manchester City visiting the Gtech Community Stadium, Phil Foden had been the only visiting player to score. Things changed in this match with Erling Haaland picking up the goal.
90 minutes for Hickey
Aaron Hickey started his second consecutive game for the Bees at left-back. He played the full 90 minutes, his first time doing that in the Premier League for two years – he last completed the feat at Manchester United in October 2023.
No KLP
Perhaps related to Hickey's strong play, Keane Lewis-Potter was on the bench but didn't play for the Bees. It's the first time he's not played in a league game for the Bees since May 2024.
Other stories
Haaland and Thiago
In the match preview, we looked at how strikers Haaland and Thiago compared. In the end, Haaland won the head-to-head battle by scoring the only goal of the game.
Back 5 Bees
The Bees used a Back 5 again, though taking a slightly different shape with Ajer at right centre back and Nathan Collins on the left and Sepp van den Berg in the middle. Ajer and Michael Kayode were effective at shut down City's left side attack, but Haaland did find a way to muscle past van den Berg for the game's only goal. There's no perfect system.
The question
Before the game, we asked a question:
How will Brentford try to assert themselves?
It's difficult to argue that the Bees did assert themselves in the first half. They seemed passive, willing to give City space to dominate possession and pass almost without resistance. The Bees created nothing offensively and may have been a bit lucky to go into halftime only down a single goal. City's right side was very effective at dribbling past the Bees.
In the second half, the Bees were much more aggressive without the ball. They pressured higher up the pitch. They caused City to lose possession in their own half 27 times – they only did that 4 times in the first half. They were better around their own box. City had been quite successful at dribbling past Bees in the first half, but struggled in the second half. City successfully entered the Bees' penalty box 17 times in the first half, but only 3 times in the second half. City only attempted a single shot in the second half.
With the ball in the second half, they used more long passes (up to 26 from 19 in the first half), 60% more passes in City's half, nearly triple the entries into the final third and more than double the number of crosses. This improved approach saw them move from 1 first half shot to 5 in the second half. Was it enough to score or earn a point in the game? Not this time.
This story was published on 06 October 2025. It was written by Dennis Flood. The image at the top of this story was generated using AI.
