Phil Foden’s hat-trick saw Manchester City come from behind to win 3-1 at Brentford to reclaim second in the Premier League.
Foden’s equalising goal came from his interception of Ethan Pinnock’s clearance which he duly swept away in the third minute of first-half injury-time.
Foden then nodded City ahead from Kevin De Bruyne’s 53rd minute cross and ultimately completed his hat-trick from Erling Haaland’s 70th minute lay-off pass.
Neal Maupay had initially fired Brentford in front with a 21st minute opening goal from Mark Flekken’s long goal-kick, which the Frenchman picked up and fired in beyond Ederson’s reach.
Brentford remain 15th in the table whilst Man City returned to second position and now two points off the Premier League summit with a game in hand.
Speaking post-match to Sky Sports, Foden iterated that City had belief that they could come from behind against “a fantastic team” like Brentford.
“We stayed calm and we’re a team that trusts our ability. There were ups and downs but we had to remain patient. They closed the spaces but we remained patient, controlled the game and created chances, which was nice to see.
“I’m really glad with my performances and am playing a lot of minutes inside, where I want to be, and I’m delighted with the way I’m playing. I’m playing the best form I’ve had in a City shirt consistently for a long time and long may that continue and I will keep working hard on the training ground.”
Having seen the title race blown wide open after Arsenal beat Liverpool on Sunday (4 February), Man City were forced to defend early as Ruben Dias blocked Ivan Toney’s third minute cross.
City soon gained control and almost claimed a 10th minute lead through Julian Alvarez’s strike towards the top-right corner, yet Flekken was alert to punch the ball behind for a corner from which Josko Gvardiol first saw a shot deflected then he curled wide.
Toney soon gave City another scare as he was played forward in the 13th minute from a decisive offside position, but Ederson made a well-timed block.
Alvarez forced Flekken into a 14th minute save from which the Dutch goalkeeper blocked Kyle Walker’s shot from the subsequent set-piece.
Flekken however proved pivotal to the opening goal after Gvardiol blasted over from a 20th minute shot, which allowed the 30 year-old to play his long goal-kick through City’s defence for Maupay to gather and fire in the opening goal.
City quickly reasserted their dominance but Gvardiol saw a 26th minute shot blocked by Flekken as he eyed up the bottom-left corner, before Bernardo Silva curled over eight minutes later.
Brentford almost put themselves on course for a third straight win over the reigning champions from a 39th minute short corner, which fell for Sergio Reguilon to curl towards the bottom-left corner only for Ederson’s late reaction to save City’s blushes.
Pep Guardiola’s Cityzens eventually were lucky to enter half-time level after Ethan Pinnock fumbled a clearance in the third minute of injury-time, which fell for Foden to chest down and fire in to restore parity at the break.
Brentford however weren’t rattled by Foden’s equaliser as they started the second half on the front foot, but were undone in the 53rd minute as Foden escaped his marker and nodded in his second goal from De Bruyne’s cross.
Mads Roerslev almost pulled Thomas Frank’s Bees back level three minutes later as he gathered a sloppy volley clearance, but the Dane put his shot over the bar.
Christian Norgaard nodded wide across goal from a 60th minute corner whilst Toney flicked a tight volley shot over the bar six minutes later, as Brentford continued to chase an equaliser.
City eventually punished the hosts’ wasteful finishing as Haaland slipped Foden through to net his third goal, which marked only his second career hat-trick as a senior player.
Foden’s third goal also set a new Premier League record of 45 goals in a single matchweek since the top-flight was reduced to 20 teams in 1995, with the previous record of 44 goals under this structure having been set in September 2020.
City continued to try and extend that new record goals tally as Alvarez saw a 84th minute chance blocked by Flekken, whilst De Bruyne fired wide moments later.
Man City now sit second in the table and two points off the title lead which they can assume if they win in the opening game of Matchweek 24, whilst Brentford are three points above the relegation zone.
What’s Next?
Brentford head to Molineux to face Wolves in their next match at 3pm GMT on Saturday 10 February.
Man City continue their title push at home to relegation battling Everton in a 12:30pm GMT kick-off earlier that day.
Teams
Brentford: Mark Flekken, Mads Roeslev (Yarmoliuk 76′), Nathan Collins, Ethan Pinnock, Ben Mee, Sergio Reguilon (Ajer 79′), Christian Norgaard, Vitaly Janelt (Lewis-Potter 76′), Mathias Jensen (Damsgaard 77′), Neal Maupay (Baptiste 90+1′), Ivan Toney
Substitutes: Thomas Strakosha, Zanka, Kristoffer Ajer, Keane Lewis-Potter, Mikkel Damsgaard, Shandon Baptiste, Yehor Yarmoliuk, Ethan Brierley, Benjamin Fredrick
Man City: Ederson, Kyle Walker, Ruben Dias, Nathan Ake, Josko Gvardiol, Rodri, Bernardo Silva (Doku 71′), Kevin De Bruyne, Julian Alvarez, Phil Foden, Erling Haaland (Kovacic 86′)
Substitutes: Stefan Ortega, John Stones, Mateo Kovacic, Jack Grealish, Jeremy Doku, Manuel Akanji, Matheus Nunes, Oscar Bobb, Rico Lewis
Referee – Jarred Gillett