Manchester City blows 2-0 lead as Nørgaard attacks late for Brentford | first division

When Brentford They wasted their first opportunities. Thomas Frank showed his approval and encouragement with applause. But they continued to miss them: at the end of the first half he was burying his head in his hands; When Yoane Wissa somehow shot at Nathan Aké with the goal at his mercy and 20 minutes remaining, he was prostrate, his forehead pressed to the grass in supplication. Maybe someone was listening.

Phil Foden had opened the scoring moments earlier and shortly afterwards scored the second after Savinho's shot was saved. If Brentford seemed defeated at that moment, they didn't feel it, and with one last push the pendulum swung: three minutes later, Mads Roerslev's volleyed cross found Wissa all alone on the edge of the six-yard box to score the goal, and In injury time Christian Nørgaard headed a cross from the right by Keane Lewis-Potter just out of reach of Stefan Ortega.

Still, Brentford were not satisfied, and it took Aké's goal-line clearance from Bryan Mbeumo's shot in the final moments to ensure Manchester City finished this brilliantly entertaining encounter with a point. It was the unbeaten champions' fourth league game, but if positive results return, that feeling of control and superiority will not return.

Pep Guardiola later admitted that his team lacked the “specific type of player” they needed when Brentford filled the area in the final moments, that “our holding midfielders don't have the quality… no, they don't have the skills to defend this type of players”. “I'm not complaining to the players at all,” Guardiola said (although he certainly seemed to when they left the field at the end). “Of course we're sad because we were close to winning and we didn't win, but that happens sometimes. With 0-2 we were able to manage it a little better (but) they put six or seven players in the area, and sometimes they are better. They had more players, they are taller, they are stronger with their heads. So you have to understand it.

A month ago, Brentford were still unbeaten here in all competitions, but lost their aura of invincibility with successive league games against Nottingham Forest. and arsenal They remain an exciting and fearsome proposition at home and Liverpool will have seen plenty here to worry them ahead of their visit on Saturday. “The way we played, how brave we were, the aggression, our low blocking, our counterattacks… I loved everything about our performance,” Frank said. “It's not like we defended for 80 minutes and then came back in the last 10. I think this is the first time that in 90 minutes we managed to go more or less toe-to-toe with one of the best teams in the world. “

Despite their obvious quality, City didn't tend to look like that here. Brentford started much stronger, not giving City time to settle into any area of ​​the pitch as they looked for space in attack, often down the right where Mbeumo was constantly bothering Josko Gvardiol, or in front of Wissa. In the first 15 minutes, Wissa wasted two chances and Mbeumo one, and Ortega deflected his shot onto the post.

City's record with Kyle Walker in their team this season is notably dismal, but there may have been moments when Guardiola regretted his absence. This may or may not be the end of the road for Walker at City but did not even embark on the one that led to the Gtech Community Stadium, the 34-year-old was left out of the squad while he tries to plan a move abroad and with the arrival of 19-year-old Palmeiras. Defender Vitor Reis, for whom a deal worth around £30m has apparently been agreed, is imminent.

It wasn't until halfway through the first half that City woke up. Kevin De Bruyne found Matheus Nunes running into space on the counter, but the Portuguese cut inside and towards Nathan Collins.

Savinho led another break before firing over the bar from the edge of the area. The final 10 minutes of the half were played almost entirely in Brentford's defensive third, concluding with De Bruyne's first shot, under no pressure, clearing the goal, the stands behind it and almost the roof above.

If both teams enjoyed periods of dominance in the first half, in the second they both simply yelled at each other throughout the match. Nathan Collins headed a free kick just wide, Savinho hit the post, Erling Haaland sent a free header straight at Mark Flekken from eight yards and Gvardiol denied Wissa with an excellent last block. And so it continued, from one end to the other, until Foden caressed the ball into the far corner from a wonderful De Bruyne cross to open the scoring and take the game to its mad, magnificent conclusion.