February 10, (THEWILL) – Manchester City overcame Brentford at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday night to get back on track in the Premier League, with the visitors’ blunders defining the game in the end.
In the first half, Riyad Mahrez scored from the penalty spot, and Kevin De Bruyne’s side-footed finish in the closing 20 minutes sealed the win.
The Bees were only able to mount sporadic counter-attacks because City had perfect control of possession. But it took almost half an hour for the champions and Premier League leaders to put it to use and put Brentford goalkeeper David Raya to the test.
Before Joao Cancelo blasted the rebound high and wide, the Spaniard dived down low to claw the ball away and prevent Raheem Sterling from scoring a simple tap-in. Soon after, Sterling’s acrobatic attempt went wide of the mark. Aymeric Laporte also missed a wonderful opportunity.
Brentford had the first attempt on goal, however it was a feeble header from Frank Onyeka. Just before half-time, Rico Henry had a better chance, with Ederson heroically diving at his feet to prevent a breach of City’s defenses.
The penalty decision against Brentford came at an inopportune time, only a few minutes before half-time, erasing all of their hard work up to that point. Mads Roerslev was dragged into a foolish challenge on Sterling, and Mahrez scored his 16th goal of the season with ease from the penalty spot.
Cancelo almost increased City’s lead but a good save from Raya matched his jinking run and low shot. Unfortunately for the Brentford goalkeeper, it was his error that allowed City to score the game-winning second goal, as he passed straight to Sterling, whose shot was deflected to a thankful De Bruyne to bury in the net.
Brentford seemed to lose their fight after falling behind 2-0, and City began whizzing the ball around far more dangerously than they had been previously. Before the final whistle, Cancelo forced Raya into a low save, which meant the champs had to finish the game with the initial two goals.
City has won 14 Premier League games in a row and leads second-placed Liverpool by 12 points, at least until the Reds face Leicester City tomorrow. A trip to Norwich City is next on their agenda.
Meanwhile, for Brentford, who have lost their last five league games, they will be trying to change that this weekend when they face Crystal Palace.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
