Brentford 0-1 Manchester City Review

Premier League GW7

Last season, Manchester City managed to lose a two-goal lead in the final ten minutes of the match against Brentford (A); this time, they put in an impressive first-half display and saw out the win, defending the attempts by Brentford to score. Whether it was the corners, long throws, or long balls. The team stood firm. There is still work to be done on sustaining performance levels over the full ninety minutes, players who need to improve, and others to find fitness. But, during a weekend Liverpool dropped points, and at a ground few won at last season, this was a massive win heading into the International break.

MOTM: ERLING HAALAND

Notable Stats:

• Pep Guardiola has now won 250 of his 349 Premier League matches with Manchester City (D50 L49); the fastest any manager has ever reached 250 wins in charge of an English top-flight club.

• Erling Haaland has scored 94 Premier League goals under Pep Guardiola, now the 10th most goals scored by a player for a manager in Premier League history, despite him only featuring 104 times under the Spaniard so far.

• Erling Haaland has 15 goals in all competitions in 2025-26, nine more than any other Premier League player has scored. He's outscored 12 other Premier League clubs so far this season.

• There've been 262 long throws into the opposition penalty area in the Premier League this season, already 45% of the total for the entirety of last season (578).

• Erling Haaland has now scored in nine consecutive appearances for club and country (6 in 2 for Norway, 10 in 7 for Man City) – the longest scoring run of his top-flight/international career.

Game Stats:

Brentford 0-1 Manchester City

• xG: 0.65 - 0.94

• xThreat: 0.65 - 1.32

• Possession: 30.5% - 69.5%

• Field Tilt: 23.7% - 76.3%

• Def Action Height: 49.3 - 45.8

• Penalty Box Shots: 3 - 6

• Deep Entries: 2 - 12

• PPDA: 13.8 - 10.9

• High Turnovers: 6 - 4

Here is a look at the 5-game rolling average of xG and xGA for the team this season, across all competitions. After the first few games, the team has stabilized defensively. Despite the number of chances they’re creating for Erling Haaland, they’ll need to increase the number of chances across the team once back from the international break.

Savinho completes his first full 90' of the season.

Phil Foden completes 3 consecutive full 90s for the first time since January 2025.

7 consecutive starts for Nico O'Reilly equals his longest run in the team from last season, which didn't come until April. Has already played more than 50% of his total minutes from the 24/25 season.

If you want to stay up-to-date on individual player minutes, back four combinations, underlying numbers, and more, check out the live Google sheet below. 👇

Changes from Manchester City as Oscar Bobb and Savinho started on either wing. Both were holding the width as Nico O’Reilly would tuck inside, then make runs into the half-space, and they tried to find either winger isolated where possible. Otherwise, looking to find space between the lines with the backline stretched and midfield outnumbered.

E. Haaland 9' 0-1 

The result of van den Berg trying to wrestle with Haaland on the left side leaves a huge space between him and Ajer, giving Haaland the space to attack after a brilliant pass over the top from Gvardiol.

The best work here from Haaland comes from how he positioned his body to protect the ball for the initial bounce, and then adjusted as it bounces inside. His focus is on keeping his body between the ball and the defender until it settles. Once it does, touch over to his left foot to finish. Good run to the back-post by Bobb.

Along with the passes over the top from Gvardiol for this goal and the one against Monaco, we've seen Manchester City trying to find the wingers with runs from out-to-in, like we saw in the match against Monaco, Gvardiol to Savinho. As well as passes like these from Reijnders to Bobb.

Nowhere near the final version, or consistent across the full ninety, but it is encouraging to see some of the attacking play developing and ideas being tried out.

The chances were there to add more in the first half, with six shots inside the box, and two big chances. The opportunity Foden had to put Savinho through 1v1, he didn’t take. The volley from Reijnders inside the box. The dribbles by Bobb into the box that he couldn’t find an angle for a shot, or the chance he creates to find Foden running into the middle of the box to shoot. All whilst keeping Brentford to one blocked shot by Thiago from outside the box, across the entire first half. It was dominant from Manchester City but not clinical.

The 1v1 save by Donnarumma has gone a little under the radar. Drops to the middle of his box as soon as he spots Josko has lost the aerial duel. The initial couple of steps towards his left side, as Thiago looks up. Along with Nico O’Reilly getting back to apply some pressure. Once Thiago takes a touch, Donnarumma closes down the angle and smothers the shot.

That chance comes fortunately for Brentford from a Gvardiol mistake, but importantly at a crucial time in the match. The beginning of the second half (48’). Throughout the few games Donnarumma has played so far this season, there has usually been at least one save in each where he’s stopped the momentum swinging towards the opposition.

Here is the number of box entries from the match against Brentford. I get the impression the performance by Bobb has gone a little under the radar, given his chances created didn’t lead to a goal, or in some instances, the final shot taken.

Oscar Bobb had the most progressive passes (5), shot-creating actions (6), passes into the penalty area (4), carries into the penalty area (2), progressive passes received (9), and successful take-ons (4) against Brentford. Big step in the right direction from Oscar Bobb. Just needs more time and encouragement. To be a touch more decisive inside the box when an opportunity to shoot comes up.

Bernardo Silva and Jeremy Doku (76’) came on for Tijjani Reijnders and Oscar Bobb. I don’t think either had a huge impact on wrestling back control to push the opposition back, like in the first half, but they needed to freshen up their legs. Savinho has not been particularly good in his appearances this season. To get him into form and fit, you’ve got to play him, which is something Guardiola has to try to balance early in the season.

In the second half, Manchester City still had 65% possession but struggled to drop and pin back Brentford like they did in the first half. Struggling in the buildup as Brentford were aggressive going man-to-man, the outlets in the wingers were not as reliable under pressure from the opposition full-back, and the midfielders were struggling to open up the spaces centrally.

Outside of the 1v1 chance Thiago had (48’) from a long ball over the top and a mistake by Gvardiol in the aerial duel, they had one shot from outside the box, missing the target (58’), and then three shots off a throw-in set piece. One blocked and the other two missed the goal. It was the frailty of the team last season that made you worried, rather than, on watching back, lots of quality chances being conceded.

Now, you’ll want them to sustain the first-half performance for ninety minutes; you’d expect more chances to be taken to avoid the tough finish in the first place. The buildup needs to improve, just as much as Savinho needs to find his form, and Oscar Bobb can be more decisive in the box. Nico Gonzalez must better position himself to receive the ball in space to then progress the play. Donnarumma can make better decisions when playing out from the back, not inviting as much pressure, and finding the players in space.

They’re all valid and are improvements we’d expect to see over time. Right now, for the team to remain undefeated since the last international break, and look stable defending away from home against Brentford, is a big step forward from last season. With much of the squad having played minutes now, others returning from injury, and having a good foundation of results to build on. You’ll want to see those improvements come in the next run of games. As much as fans are desperate to see the team back at the level of a title contender, to see it in the performances, that process takes time, and you want to peak at the right moment. Instead, it’s about whether they’re moving in the right direction and building momentum. For me, this group is absolutely doing that.

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Moving Forward

Nico Gonzalez has made a big jump in his work on OOP this season and is slowly improving in possession. We've seen lots of good components of his ability on the ball across games this season, and I'm sure we'll eventually see him put it together in the coming games. The split between Nico (493) and Rodri (414) for minutes so far has been quite even for the six position.

Across all competitions this season, Nico has won the 2nd most aerial duels (17) for Manchester City, with the highest per 90 (3.70), and a win percentage of 65.4%. Has won the most tackles (12), with an 80% win rate.

Body positioning, quick decision-making, using the passing range he's already got, and the spaces taken up when the team was in possession, to be available, those are the areas to watch. Long term, I'm happy with where he'll eventually get to, considering Nico didn't play properly as a number six at La Masia. His first full season in the position was with Barcelona B. Not a position, in my opinion, we'll need to recruit for a long time.

Nico O'Reilly against Brentford made the joint-most ball recoveries (7), along with Savinho. 4/5 dribblers tackled. It’s no surprise to see him earn an England call-up. When you’re looking at MLS not starting a PL match this season, and Hall is injured, there is a route into the WC squad for O’Reilly. Provided he delivers consistent performances throughout this season. Below, you can see just how much defensive work he does for the team.

At this stage of the season, Haaland is beyond an outlier with the amount of npxG (7.7) he's had so far in the PL, which is well beyond Mateta (3.3) and Enzo (3.0) as the two behind him. Reijnders #2 (1.0) and #3 Foden (0.8) are the two behind Haaland; each has reasonable numbers compared to their equivalents in other PL teams. Given how early it is in the season, one game can double their totals and flip the perspective. Instead, the focus should be on the chances they're creating for Erling Haaland, while the attack is not close to hitting its ceiling for this season.

Ruben Dias against Brentford made the most interceptions (4), clearances (5), and passes into the final third (10). Won the most aerial duels (4/4). I wouldn’t go as far as to say he’s back to his best, but the performances are heading in the right direction. Which have come from a consistent run of minutes and an increasing stability of the team around him. Successful (8/8) in all attempts to tackle a dribbler so far this season. The CCB role, in a back three in possession, suits him the best.

Final mention was to keep an eye on Kayode, who I think impressed as the right-back for Brentford. Strong defensively up against Savinho, powerful carrying the ball out through pressure, and of course, the long throws.

Next up for Manchester City is Everton (H) on the 18th of October at 15:00 (UK). After the International break, the next run of fixtures begins at home. Everton is 8th in the Premier League, ending the unbeaten run of Crystal Palace in their last match. At home, they’re unbeaten (3W 2D), but away from home, they’ve lost three and won one, against Wolves.

In the Premier League this season, Everton have only conceded 7 goals, which is fewer than Chelsea (9) and Liverpool (9). Joint with Manchester City as the only two teams yet to concede a goal from a corner-kick. They are also second for both percentage of goalkeeper passes launched 40+ yards (39.1%) and average length of those passes (41.2 yards).