Get the inside scoop on Manchester City’s 3-1 come-from-behind victory against Brentford, where Phil Foden scored his second hat trick. The result propelled City two points clear of Arsenal and Liverpool atop the Premier League; Neal Maupay heads the Bees’ deficit.
Phil Foden’s hat-trick enabled Manchester City to overcome a deficit and defeat Brentford 3-1, capitalizing on Liverpool’s error at Arsenal and bringing the visitors within two points of the leaders. City emerged victorious from that setback at Brentford.
After twenty-one minutes, the treble-winning team was startled when Neal Maupay converted Mark Flekken’s long free-kick into a one-goal lead. In pursuing an equalizer, they encountered a Brentford goalkeeper in inspired form.
However, just as Arsenal and Liverpool, who have been in the game longer than City, were starting to find some optimism, Brentford’s resistance was overcome just before halftime when Foden scored quickly on Ethan Pinnock’s feeble clearance.
Eight minutes into the second half, the turnaround was completed when the midfielder ghosted in to meet Kevin De Bruyne’s deep cross, sustaining City’s charge back towards the summit.
Foden achieved a personal milestone by scoring the second hat-trick of his career. Twenty minutes later, he calmly converted a third from Erling Haaland’s lay-off pass to secure City’s fifth consecutive league victory and 15th-placed Brentford’s seventh loss in eight matches.
Anyone still unsure about Brentford’s status as the only side to defeat City in the Premier League in 2022–2023 was reminded by the pre-match video across the stadium.
Although few predicted they could complete the hat-trick, the hoodoo would not go away peacefully. Maupay put the Bees ahead with their first match opportunity, capitalizing on Flekken’s long goal-kick after Ivan Toney blocked Nathan Ake.
The City defence had expected Toney to make contact, which would have established offside for the Frenchman, but that did not occur.
Additionally, they would have anticipated a less complicated evening against Flekken, given that, heading into the match, no team had prevented a lower percentage of shots on target than Brentford this season.
However, they discovered the Dutchman in inspired form as he twice made full-length stops to deny Julian Alvarez, with his acrobatic right-foot save on Erling Haaland’s attempt being the most impressive.
It exacerbated the severity of Man City’s equalizer on the stroke of the half when Pinnock’s feeble header, delivered under minimal duress, deflected favourably for Foden and rendered the custodian powerless to prevent him from tying the score.
Although he could only avert the midfielder’s second goal with a wayward attempt on a free header, Foden was not entirely exempt from responsibility for entering the penalty area by squeezing past two defenders.
The most desirable item was still to be discovered. Erling Haaland attracted both Nathan Collins and Pinnock. However, the striker’s dexterous lay-off found Foden again untracked as he twirled into the Brentford box and completed his hat-trick.
Brentford might have had an opportunity to salvage something from the match without an acrobatic volley by Toney and a volley by Christian Norgaard that Ruben Dias blocked from close range.
Despite lacking in quality, the hosts still paraded the field after the match, with Foden spearheading the charge to the away end with the match ball in hand and City’s ascent to the top of the table in full swing, their fourth consecutive championship firmly in their own hands.