MCI Post Match Review: Manchester City vs Brentford FC

Following a tribute to late City manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, Manchester City added another notch in the win column over the weekend, defeating Brentford FC in a narrow 2-1 home victory. This was truly a game of two halves. Thomas Frank’s side proved once again to be the well-disciplined and organized side that has caused us problems in the past, routinely causing dangerous moments for our defense and forcing a usually relaxed Ederson into action early in the game. 

First Half:

By early in the game, we mean early. As in, fastest ever scored in the Premier League against the reigning champions. Matter of fact, it was the earliest City have ever conceded in the competition’s history. With a seemingly rusty John Stones and Kyle Walker starting in place of Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol, City’s defense was caught sleeping within 30 seconds of the opening whistle. Lewis-Potter, unmarked at the back post by Walker, was able to get his head on a cross into the box. A whiffed Stones clearance was headed into goal by the opportunistic Yoane Wissa, leading to an early Brentford lead. 

When out of possession, City generally press the goalkeeper and it appeared Thomas Frank had figured out a way to use that to Brentford’s advantage. Savinho’s aggressive pressure when out of possession left empty space on City’s right hand side. Lewis-Potter would remain high and wide on the left, occupying Walker in City’s defensive back four, which meant the closest player available was Kovacic. This caused all sorts of problems for City, with Brentford routinely finding room in the middle to exploit as Wissa and Mbeumo worked on keeping Stones’ attention and disrupting the link between him and Kovacic. With Brentford appearing confident from their early goal, Ederson was called into action around the 9 minute mark again, making a point blank save to keep the deficit manageable. 

But despite Thomas Frank’s gameplan and Brentford’s flawless execution, it was another day for Erling Haaland to do what Erling Haaland does.. score goals. Brentford’s relentless pressure was broken in the 19th minute, with a marauding Walker playing a simple pass into De Bruyne’s feet in the box. Whether the next ball was an intentional pass from De Bruyne or a deflection off the Brentford defender’s foot isn’t clear. But it mattered not to Haaland who ripped a right footed shot, low and hard past Flekken’s outstretched hand. A special moment for Erling after a difficult week due to the loss of his close family friend. 

For much of the first half, it was Brentford continuing to look dangerous. Ederson was forced into yet another save following a dangerous corner, barely tipping the ball over the crossbar following a Pinnock header. But when you have the world’s best striker and the world’s best ballplaying goalkeeper, you’re only a moment away from witnessing something magical. A mere 2-3 minutes later, Haaland gently muscled Pinnock away to received a perfectly placed 50 yard pass from Ederson. It was 1v1 at that point and there could only be one winner. Haaland scored his second goal of the day with his trademark finish. His 9th goal in 4 matches. Shortly before the halftime whistle, Kovacic, forced to cover extra ground in the previously mentioned right side space, was caught chasing Wissa and given a yellow card. Unfortunately, Wissa withdrew due to injury and was replaced by Kevin Schade. Halftime adjustments seemed imminent and necessary for City. 

SECOND HALF:
The second half was better for City but featured no additional goals from either side. Rico Lewis made way for Josko Gvardiol and Kovacic, on a yellow card, was replaced by City’s leading Ballon D’or candidate, Rodri. City’s solution to Brentford’s tactics were simple.  Rather than Savinho leading the press, it was Haaland stepping up to put pressure on Flekken. With Savinho staying disciplined on his man, our midfielders were able to focus on the midfield battle, stopping dangerous linking passes and causing turnovers in dangerous areas. 

In possession, Ederson was faced with time on the ball due to Brentford’s man to man press. He and City quickly realized that the most effective way to attack was to isolate Haaland in 1v1 matchups. This in turn would circumvent the clutter in midfield and the man to man defending implemented by Brentford. Brentford’s 5-3-2 low block in possession allowed City to control possession further, allowing them to circulate the ball to the wide areas. Little by little, City continued to chip away. Kevin De Bruyne, too talented and intelligent to completely neutralize, took it upon himself to find spaces in front of and around the block. While Brentford posed a problem to their compact structure, there is always a significant risk involved with defending so deep (close to goal) against quality players. 

Grealish, who had a quiet first half, started to come alive a bit in the second due to City finding establishing possession better. A curled shot is deflected by Flekken, who somehow becomes prime Buffon against us. A moment of brilliance from Gvardiol left the Etihad faithful speechless, as the Croatian burst forward in a dazzling display of explosiveness and skill. His pass to Savinho is unfortunately saved by Flekken. Bernardo Silva, Ruben Dias and Matheus Nunes eventually made it onto the pitch in the remaining half of the game, eager to close the game out for City’s latest Premier League win. 

POST MATCH THOUGHTS:

• A special shoutout to Erling Haaland, who stepped up and delivered when we needed him to, despite playing under difficult personal circumstances. 
• Kyle Walker and John Stones had two of the worse performances I’ve seen from them in a City shirt. Walker in particular continues to make mistakes that shouldn’t be made by a player of his experience and stature. 
• Gundogan looked leggy and Kovacic, despite an excellent start to the season, doesn’t inspire confidence as a solo pivot. 
• Ederson now has more assists that the 100m fidget spinner. 
• Savinho appeared to have suffered a leg injury.. hopefully it’s nothing too serious.

MOTM: Erling Haaland.. but a special shoutout to Ederson, who was phenomenal in the first half. 

Written by: SHEIKH