STATS Perform/dpa
london
Ivan Toney responded to missing out on England’s World Cup squad by firing Brentford to a stunning 2-1 victory over Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium, preventing the champions from going top of the Premier League.
Brentford went ahead after 16 minutes when Toney headed beyond Ederson, but City levelled through Phil Foden’s brilliant half-volley after a long spell of pressure.
However, Pep Guardiola’s men struggled to break down the stubborn Bees in a stop-start second half, and Toney finished off a fine Brentford break by tapping in a dramatic winner eight minutes into stoppage time.
The result saw City sign off for the World Cup break in frustrating fashion, leaving them behind leaders Arsenal.
City were indebted to Ederson for making two fine saves to deny Bryan Mbeumo and Toney early on, but Brentford took a surprise lead at the third attempt.
David Raya launched a deep free-kick towards the City area, where Ben Mee’s flick-on was nodded home by Toney, stunning the Etihad into silence.
City then had four penalty appeals rejected in quick succession as Brentford were pinned back, and the champions equalised on the stroke of half-time as Foden hammered a left-footed effort into the top-right corner after Manuel Akanji had teed him up, giving Raya no chance.
Zanka almost put through his own net when he diverted Joao Cancelo’s effort wide after the break, before Ilkay Gundogan fired over following a flowing move involving Erling Haaland.
With City throwing men forward in search of a winner, there was to be one final twist as substitute Josh Dasilva broke clear to set up Toney, who converted into an empty net to spark wild scenes among the travelling fans.
Ahead of their meeting with Brentford, City had won 11 consecutive home Premier League games, scoring two or more goals in 15 successive league outings at the Etihad.
However, Brentford produced a fine rearguard action to limit the champions to just six attempts on target before stunning them at the last, claiming their first league win at City since Christmas Day 1937.
Toney’s fine form this season meant many onlookers were surprised to see him miss out when England named their World Cup squad this week, but the Brentford striker could hardly have issued a better response to Gareth Southgate’s snub.
He has now scored two or more goals on three occasions in the Premier League this season (against Leeds United, Brighton and Hove Albion, and City). Only Haaland, who had a rare outing without a goal here, has done so in more matches (five).
Thomas Frank has earned plaudits for instilling a sense of defensive solidity at Brentford, and his team have still never lost a Premier League game when scoring first, posting 13 wins and three draws from the 16 matches in which they have drawn first blood.