14 January 2025
Brentford 2 Man City 2
Brentford entertained defending champions Man City at the Gtech Community Stadium. The hosts had hit a run of bad form, something Pep Guardiola’s side can easily relate to. The visitors were looking to make it five consecutive wins in all competitions. The Bees needed to rediscover their home form from the early part of the season.
Frank’s side started well as a deep ball into the box picked out Mbuemo. He checked onto his right foot and looked to steal the headlines. Sadly he dragged his shot wide of the target. Moments later Wissa went to ground in the box, demanding a penalty but the referee refused his request. A VAR review followed but they saw nothing in the challenge to force an intervention.
Mbuemo and Wissa were linking up well and stretching the visitors’ defence. One such ball from the right flank was completely missed by the Brentford striker. It was only a half-chance, but one that the home fans expected to see a better finish from. The Bees had dominated the early stages of the game but you wondered whether their wasteful nature in front of goal would cost them.
Man City’s first real effort of the game came from an unlikely source. Gvardiol picked the ball up and ran towards goal. With defenders in front of him, the Croatian got a shot away but Flekken got down well to make a save. Haaland had been non-existent in the contest up until this point, with fans double checking their matchday programmes to see if he was playing.
The hosts came forward once again and Mbuemo cut in from the right wing and looked to get a left-footed shot off towards the near post. Ortega reacted well to turn it around the post for a corner. He could be the next player Brentford are trying to resist offers for, he certainly looks capable of being able to step it up to a much bigger club, not that The Bees want to see that.
It wasn’t until the closing stages of the half that De Bruyne swung in a sublime left-footed cross. He picked out Haaland at the back post but the usually free-scoring Norwegian could not find the target from a tight angle. Moments later he had another chance but his shot was tame and made for a simple save for the Brentford keeper.
The sides went in at the interval all square. After the break it was the visitors who made the better start. Nunes put a teasing cross into the box and found Haaland in the penalty area completely unmarked. It was a disappointing effort from Guardiola’s goal-machine as his header was straight at Flekken once again.
Brentford continued to waste chances as firstly Janelt saw his shot saved at the near post by Ortega. Then van den Berg headed narrowly wide of the far post from a free-kick. Despite creating plenty of half-chances, Frank’s side just did not seem to have their shooting boots on. Their only saving grace was that it seemed the visitors were suffering from the same issue.
Damsgaard thought he had broken the deadlock for the hosts when his low, driven shot found the far corner. The Dane was devastated to see the assistant raise their flag immediately afterwards. Moments later Mbuemo threaded a pass into the path of Wissa. With just Ortega in his way, he unleashed a shot but a perfectly-timed sliding challenge from Gvardiol seemed to save Man City from going a goal down in this game.
The visitors went straight down the other end and De Bruyne put in another superb cross. Foden attacked it and got a deft touch to send it into the bottom corner of the goal. The hosts were dumbstruck, finally paying the price for wasting so many chances in the game. Guardiola punched the air as his players celebrated.
Frank’s side did not give up and Wissa looked destined to score as he beat Ortega out wide. With an empty goal to aim for, he got a shot off but Ake did brilliantly to block the effort on the line. Man City countered once again and Savinho’s shot was blocked but the loose ball fell to Foden in the box. He drilled home his shot to double the visitors’ lead. Game, set and match it would seem.
Into the final ten minutes of the game, Man City’s defence went to sleep. Damsgaard cut it back from the byline to Wissa, completely unmarked, six yards out. As the striker controlled it, he had the goal at his mercy and slotted home to give The Bees a lifeline. The Gtech Community Stadium erupted, wondering if they could do the unthinkable.
Deep into added time, Lewis-Potter lifted a curling cross into the box. Norgaard rose to head it goalwards and Ortega could not keep it out of the back of the net. Brentford had grabbed a point from the jaws of defeat. The home fans could not believe what they were seeing, they were dead and buried in this game, or so they thought.
The visitors’ heads dropped after the goal and the hosts almost grabbed a winner. Mbuemo’s shot had Ortega beaten but Ake blocked on the line once again. As the points were shared, the Man City players seemed to be loitering on the pitch, not wanting to go into the changing rooms for they knew the tirade they were going to face from their manager.
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