Man City 3 Brentford 0: Doku, Haaland and Marmoush score as Bees defeated
Man City 3 Brentford 0: Doku, Haaland and Marmoush score as Bees defeated Goals from Jérémy Doku, Erling Haaland and Omar Marmoush sealed a 3-0 win for Manchester City against Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday evening. The Bees put in a solid first-half display at Etihad Stadium, but Doku curled in a second-half opener, Haaland scrambled in a second and Marmoush netted another in additional time to secure all three points for the title chasers. Keith Andrews made two changes for the trip to Manchester, with Kristoffer Ajer and Aaron Hickey replacing Sepp van den Berg and Dango Ouattara in the starting XI.
Kevin Schade also made his 100th Premier League appearance for the club. Doku tested Caoimhín Kelleher inside the opening five minutes, when he picked the ball up in a wide area and drove at Michael Kayode . He jinked inside and fizzed a shot towards goal, which the Bees keeper beat away, before it was further cleared by Keane Lewis-Potter .
It looked like Brentford might take the lead soon after, when Kayode launched one of his trademark long throw-ins into the box. Gianluigi Donnarumma came for the ball but missed it as Schade nudged it towards goal, with Matheus Nunes on the line to clear it away. Bernando Silva and Haaland then had efforts for the hosts, both created by Doku.
First, the winger's neat footwork set up Silva's outside-of-the-boot shot which flew high and wide; the Belgium international then crossed for the City striker, who headed over the crossbar. The west Londoners were appealing for a foul and a potential red card for Nunes halfway through the opening period, with Schade in on goal. The German was played in by an Igor Thiago flick-on, before the City man stretched out his leg and brought down the Bees forward.
However, replays show the defender got a stud on the ball. Doku was at the heart of things for Pep Guardiola's side again, as he wriggled away from Mathias Jensen and passed to Haaland. The striker's shot was blocked by a wall of Brentford defenders before Kelleher gratefully clutched onto the rebound, which almost wormed its way in.