Manchester City 3-0 Brentford: Jeremy Doku, Erling Haaland and Omar Marmouche scored all the important goals to ensure Josep Guardiola’s side stay within striking distance of Arsenal in the title race.
Jeremy Doku celebrates after Manchester City’s goal (Image: Darren Staples/AFP)
In terms of Manchester City’s greatest goals, they may not match Vincent Kompany’s wonder strike against Leicester or Rodri’s historic win in Istanbul.
But for the third time in a week, Jeremy Doku came into play when his side needed it most, to keep them alive in the title race and to put the pressure back on Arsenal ahead of Sunday’s game-changing showdown with relegation-placed West Ham.
When Brentford boarded City against the Etihad after Doc’s 97th-minute screamer goal saved them from the brink of defeat against Everton on Monday night, City knew they couldn’t afford to make a mistake. Frankly, anything short of a win would mean a close match, a decider, and an even match with Arsenal in the title race.
And for an hour, it looked as if only a Gunners implosion of absolute epic proportions could snatch the domestic title that Mikel Arteta and his team have so desperately sought and sought game-wise over the past few years.
read more: NBA star criticizes Arsenal’s tactics, claims “Champions League final is not fun”read more: Former Premier League boss says “I have doubts” as to why Man City’s case has been postponed
But then Doc produced what is becoming a trademark of the Belgian, firing into the top corner past the statuesque Kaiomhin Kelleher.
The collective sigh of relief from around Etihad can probably be heard all the way to London. In London, all eyes will now be on Arsenal’s side, who were soundly defeated by City in the Championship round.
Erling Haaland put them ahead a second before Omar Marmouche added sparkle to the win, moving City back to within two points of their title rivals, at least temporarily. If Doc’s opening goal broke the ice, Haaland’s wicked goal completely erased any tension. Marmouche’s attack in added time added to the glory.
Erling Haaland capitalizes on a momentary gap to give City space (Image: Naomi Baker)
However, this was not as comprehensive as the scoreline suggests. Despite enjoying 15 shots and 31 touches inside the Bees’ penalty area, City were unable to break Brentford down and were booed at half-time.
A rather large caveat to these statistics is that only four shots found their targets. But just when frustrations were about to boil over, City found a way. As champions do.
A win won’t completely change the trajectory of the title race. City are still hunters. Arsenal started the day with an advantage and were always looking to finish the game with the upper hand after City dropped a point to Everton.
However, this victory means it is not the foreshadowed conclusion that the Gunners’ first domestic title in a generation will be theirs if City fail to beat Brentford. And that means it’s Arsenal’s turn to deal with the weight of expectations of leading the league with three games left.
Despite Doc scoring a late goal against Everton, there were mixed feelings. I felt that one point was not enough. That may still prove to be true, but it certainly feels like a much better point now than it did five days ago.
Join our new WhatsApp community and receive Mirror Football content every day. Community members also receive special offers, promotions, and advertisements from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check it out whenever you like. If you are interested, please read our privacy notice.
