Manchester City fell to their first home defeat of the season as Ivan Toney snatched three points for Brentford with a 98th-minute winner on Saturday lunchtime.
The overlooked England international put his side ahead against the champions before Phil Foden levelled on the cusp of half-time. City were limited to frustrating efforts from range before Toney struck right at the death with the hosts caught upfield from their own set-piece.
Pep Guardiola spent much of the pre-match buildup batting away suggestions that his international-littered side would suffer a dip, subconscious or otherwise, ahead of the imminent World Cup. Instead, his hesitations resided with the 12.30 pm start time. “Early kick-off,” Guardiola mused, “always a little more complicated.” And so it proved.
Brentford exposed City’s sluggishness twice in the opening six minutes. Frank Onyeka’s burst from midfield wasn’t tracked by a sky-blue shirt as David Raya went over the top of City’s press with a long punt. Ederson was swiftly off his line to smother the midfielder before he was called into action moments later.
Rico Henry led a breakaway down the left, tossing a cross into the box which Bryan Mbeumo squared for Toney. Despite the surprising glut of space inside City’s penalty area, Toney rushed his sweep towards goal which Ederson pawed away.
Brazil’s number two was finally beaten by the striker Gareth Southgate deemed unworthy of a World Cup slot. Raya fizzed a set piece from deep which Ben Mee nodded towards Toney. Giving Aymeric Laporte a sly nudge in the back, Toney looped a 16th-minute opener over Ederson.
The Bees were quick to drop into a 5-3-2 off the ball but were reluctant to passively sit back. Yet, the urgency and accuracy of a City side trailing pushed the visitors onto the toes of their goalkeeper.
Half an hour into an incident-ridden first half, Brentford survived a squall of penalty appeals. Henry was perhaps the most fortunate to escape the scrutiny of the video screen. Bernardo Silva scooped the ball onto the wingback’s arm but VAR deemed that there was “no clear evidence” to prove the offence took place inside the penalty box.
Brentford couldn’t cling onto their advantage until the half-time whistle. Kevin De Bruyne’s stoppage-time corner kick bounced through to Foden, popping up for the England international to belt a brilliantly crisp half-volley into the roof of the net.
A lengthy injury delay as Laporte had a cut on his eyebrow treated punctuated a staccato start to…
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