The foundations around Man City crumbled again with Christian Norgaard’s late header halting their resurgence as the Premier League champions threw away a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 at Brentford.
Pep Guardiola’s side had moved 2-0 ahead with less than ten minutes remaining before Brentford’s late fightback.
City had shown glimpses of their old selves as skipper Kevin De Bruyne delivered a captain’s performance and a throw-back to the maestro of old with a perfect cross for Phil Foden’s close-range opener, before their late collapse again laid bare how far they have fallen this season.
They looked to have seen off Brentford’s threat when Foden notched another from inside the six-yard box to continue his own personal resurgence 12 minutes after his first – and had Savinho’s effort not hit a post and Erling Haaland not aimed a header straight at Mark Flekken, they might have.
But their defensive frailty, which has seen them agree deals for Lens’ Abdukodir Khusanov and Palmeiras’ Vitor Reis, soon came back to the fore to allow Brentford back into the game.
Eight minutes from time, Nathan Ake missed his header to cut out Mads Roerslev’s cross, allowing it to reach Yoane Wissa, who swivelled smartly and notched his 11th Premier League goal of the season.
A repeat performance was to come as Brentford piled forward in added time when Norgaard beat Manuel Akanji to Keane Lewis-Potter’s delivery, lifting the roof off the Gtech Community Stadium and once again leaving last season’s Premier League champions with a bloody nose.
Player ratings
Brentford: Flekken (7), Roerslev (7), Collins (7), Van den Berg (6), Lewis-Potter (7), Norgaard (8), Janelt (7), Jensen (7), Mbeumo (7), Wissa (7), Damsgaard (7).
Subs used: Schade (6), Yarmoliuk (6), Henry (n/a).
Man City: Ortega (7), Nunes (6), Akanji (4), Ake (5), Gvardiol (6), Kovacic (5), Silva (6), Foden (7), De Bruyne (8), Savio (7), Haaland (5).
Subs used: Gundogan (5), McAtee (n/a).
Player of the match: Kevin De Bruyne.
Analysis: The City walls are crumbling again
Sky Sports’ Ron Walker at the Gtech Community Stadium:
Ultimately this was a game of character. Brentford had it, Manchester City didn’t.
From 2-0 up, Man City should have seen out the game. They had the chances to win it but not the mental strength.
Games like these are the ones that hammer home to Pep Guardiola how much more he has to fix beyond replacing Rodri.
There had been brief glimpses of the City of old as Kevin De Bruyne pulled the strings and Phil Foden found the back of the net, but they were fleeting. The City of old, even the City of September, would not have crumpled like this.
Guardiola countered his side had never produced so much against the Bees, but neither had they given up 18 shots. Most of those came before City had scored their first, but the first swing of momentum from Yoane Wissa’s comeback goal was enough to topple them again.
Their fragile midfield does continue to invite pressure but Manuel Akanji and Nathan Ake are capable of winning headers in their own penalty area. They are not the only ones culpable for the goals, and not the only ones playing within themselves.
The underlying numbers contradicted any idea City may be back, and now their fragile mentality has confirmed it.
Guardiola: We don’t have players in our own box to defend lead
Man City head coach Pep Guardiola:
“What I missed today was that we didn’t take the right decisions in the final third, when the actions were that we could run. We were winning long balls and could run with them, but we didn’t make the right decisions.
“I like the way Brentford play, today we created a lot and we’ve come here many times and they’ve had more chances than us.
“At 2-0 we had to close it out, but we don’t have a specific player to defend a result in the box – we have to do it with the ball, create and control in the final third.”
Frank: First time we’ve gone toe-to-toe with City
Brentford head coach Thomas Frank to TNT Sport:
“I just said to the players in there that I was extremely happy and proud of the performance. I think this is the first time in four years that over the 90 minutes, we go toe-to-toe with a top-three club.
“I think Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal have been the best three clubs in the four years we have been in the Premier League so the ability and the mindset to do that, the bravery throughout the game, extremely proud of that and of course coming back from 2-0 down is a fantastic mentality.
“I’m Very happy. I would have been happy with the performance still but the feeling is a little bit better after you get something out of it.”
Story of the match in stats
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