Five Things Learned: Manchester City 2-1 Brentford (Premier League) | OneFootball

Manchester City sit top of the Premier League table and two points above Arsenal, while Erling Haaland’s ever-growing goal tally now stands at nine for the ongoing season – one more than any club in the division has been able to score so far.

The reigning Premier League champions faced an early deficit inside the opening 30 seconds, when Brentford’s Yoane Wissa took advantage of sloppy defending and scored via a free header into an empty net.

Despite trailing within the opening seconds, Manchester City tied up the affair in the 19th minute, when Erling Haaland scored from a tight angle.

And it didn’t take long for City and Haaland to grab the lead after the Norwegian forward got in behind Brentford’s defence thanks to an Ederson long ball, before chipping a helpless Mark Flekken to make it 2-1 to the hosts before the half-time interval.

Josko Gvardiol and Rodri were brought on at the break interval for Rico Lewis and Mateo Kovacic, and after a compelling opening half that saw both Manchester City and Brentford create chances, the second belonged only to the hosts.

The Sky Blues took full control and launched a barrage of attacks on Flekken’s net. Haaland and Savinho had several chances to grab a third, but Brentford’s low block proved too difficult to crack. While City were unable to extend their lead, they were to carry their 2-1 advantage through to full time.

The Sky Blues welcome Inter Milan next on Wednesday night in the first match of the new UEFA Champions League format, but before then, here are the five things learned from Manchester City’s latest Premier League win!

Brentford continues to be one of the toughest fixtures

There are few sides that consistently threaten Pep Guardiola and Manchester City more than Thomas Frank and his Brentford side. While the London club weren’t able to keep the pressure up for the entire 90 minutes on Saturday afternoon, they were able to make the reigning Champions of the division look vulnerable for most of the first-half.

It was a rough return for the English defenders

After taking some much-needed rest following England’s loss in the European Championships final, Kyle Walker and John Stones both started their first match of the season for Manchester City.

Unfortunately for both men, each made mistakes within the opening 30 seconds of the affair that put Brentford in the lead – and the errors didn’t stop there.

Both looked significantly more comfortable in the second-half, however and hopefully the rust was shaken off for good. It’s doubtful that both players will start against Inter Milan in just a few days, but we hope they return to their best with Arsenal now on the horizon.

Rodri hasn’t missed a step

While the returning English players may look out of form, the opposite can be said for Rodri.

It was the Spaniard’s first appearance of the season, coming on as a half-time substitute for Mateo Kovacic, and Manchester City unsurprisingly looked to be in full control from the minute he stepped on the pitch.

Erling Haaland has evolved

While the Norwegian striker wasn’t able to score a third consecutive hat-trick, he was still able to bring his own goal tally to an impressive nine goals across the opening four matches of the new campaign.

But it’s not just the ridiculous goal scoring – it’s clear that Erling Haaland’s build-up play has massively improved as well.

There was a moment in the first-half where he took the ball with his back to goal, dribbled through an attempted tackle, and passed it through to Jack Grealish on goal. It looked like a different player was playing in the striker role for City, and that’s how impressive it was.

Savinho will be a Manchester City player for a long time

The 20-year-old winger has only had four appearances into his very early Manchester City career, yet the now-former Girona winger has immediately slotted in and looked right at home in Pep Guardiola’s notoriously difficult-to-grasp system.

While attackers normally adapt to Guardiola’s system much faster than midfielders, it’s hard to remember a winger having this positive of an impact so quickly.

If this is how good the Brazilian international looks now, especially at just 20-years-old, imagine what kind of player he will morph into over the next 18 months. Manchester City are lucky to have him.