Brentford make Manchester City sweat, but champions' extra dimension tells in the end
Look who's in town - the Man City bus not shy in proclaiming that 'they won it all' Picture: YTJourno
Brentford (1) 1 Maupay 21
Manchester City (1) 3 Foden 45+3, 53, 70
The Bees found a way of ruffling those Manchester City feathers once again but were eventually blown away by a superb Phil Foden Hat-trick.
It looked for all the world as if the story of the night was going to be the first-half heroics from an inspired Mark Flekken.
The keeper made five blinding saves and claimed an assist in the opening 25 minutes as the Bees somehow rode the tidal wave of light blue shirts to steal in front.
But the patience and class of Pep Guardiola's side told in the end as they made sure they would be putting an end to the Brentford hoodoo - the Bees having completed an unlikely double last season.
The Bees keeper was indebted to Ethan Pinnock for getting in the way of an early Erling Haaland shot but then he started stealing the show.
In rapid succession, he denied Julian Alvarez twice with leaps and stretches and then got behind a 25-yard blockbuster from Kyle Walker. By the time the stopper had thwarted Haaland in a one v one, he also happened to have set up a goal.
It was his direct kick from the six yard box down the centre which found its way past a tussling Ivan Toney and Nathan Ake without being touched by anyone and it ran on perfectly for Neal Maupay to take on and finish with a low shot past Ederson's right hand.
It was an astonishing virtuoso performance, capped by a stop to frustrate Josko Gvardiol - another god shot from the edge of the area palmed away athletically.
Even his luck was in. When he spilled a Foden shot, the ball tricked off target.
It seemed that he would never be beaten. That it was going to be one of those nights. But remorseless City finally found a way in first-half injury time when Pinnock could only nod Kevin de Bruyne's chip into space in front of Foden, and the England man put it away.
The seal broken, it was probably no surprise when the champions got their noses in front not long after the restart. Patient passing ended with De Bruyne lifting a perfect angled ball towards the six-yard box for Foden to glance in with a deft header.
Tide turned, few expected the Bees to be able to find a way back now but they so very nearly did when Toney's knock back for Christian Norgaard gave the Dane a massive target to aim for. As it happened, his low shot was deflected wide off a despairing Ruben Dias.
Toney too had a chance - volleying over when picked out by a cross from the right from partner-in-crime Maupay.
But soon City were out of sight, as Foden moved swiftly onto a little lay-off from Haaland and glided into the box before passing the ball into the net past a helpless Flekken.
No points for Thomas Frank then, despite his team's valiant efforts. They remain just three points above the drop zone and the upcoming fixtures this month underline just how important it is that Toney is now back in the mix. He again led the line excellently, even if it was a case of feeding off scraps - from less than 30 per cent possession.
Saturday's tricky game at Wolves - who edged the recent FA Cup tie between the teams - is followed by the visit of league leaders Liverpool, and a return match against Man City at the Etihad before a cross-town trek to West Ham.
Bees: (3-5-2) Flekken - Collins, Pinnock, Mee - Roerslev (Lewis-Potter 71), Jensen (Damsgaard 77), Norgaard, Janelt (Yarmoliuk 77), Reguilon (Ajer 79) - Toney, Maupay (Baptiste 90)
City: (4-1-4-1) Ederson - Walker, Ruben Dias, Ake, Gvardiol - Rodri - Bernardo Silva (Doku 75), Alvarez, De Bruyne, Foden - Haaland (Kovacic 86)
