Manchester City 3-0 Brentford: Doku 60, Haaland 75, Marmoush 90+2
Frustration was beginning to set in for Manchester City but then there was Jeremy Doku again, providing the inspiration as Pep Guardiola’s side ran out 3-0 winners over Brentford to keep the pressure on Arsenal in the Premier League title race.
If City were to pip Arsenal to this league title they would owe a chunk of it to Doku, whose weaving and magic, chance creation and top-corner finishes are keeping the weakest of Guardiola’s title-chasing City sides alive.
When the home side needed an opener very badly in the second half, the score still level by the hour mark, Doku turned on the magic, collecting a short corner from Bernardo Silva, driving infield and then curling a superb strike into the top-right corner, to huge relief for Guardiola and the home fans.
There was tension from the start as the home side side knew anything less than a victory would effectively end the race, so understandably it was from a fluent first-half performance.
Doku was the main threat from the opening stages, repeatedly driving at Aaron Hickey down the left flank. One early run ended with a low effort comfortably saved by Caoimhin Kelleher, while Tijjani Reijnders and Silva also failed to test the Brentford goalkeeper from distance.
Erling Haaland came closest before the break when Doku slipped him through inside the area, but Kristoffer Ajer blocked the striker’s effort before Kelleher reacted quickly to gather the loose ball.
City were dominant in possession but Brentford looked dangerous whenever they broke forward. Kevin Schade’s pace repeatedly unsettled Matheus Nunes on the counterattack and Igor Thiago took too long when a simple square pass could have handed the Bees the advantage.
Doku’s goal shifted momentum in City’s favour. Brentford pushed forward in search of an equaliser but left spaces behind, and Haaland punished them 15 minutes from time. After chaos inside the six-yard box following a low cross, the Norwegian reacted quickest to backheel the ball over the line for his 26th league goal of the campaign.
Foden nearly added a third soon after but was denied by Kelleher. Before long, Marmoush succeeded where he had failed.
