Brentford 0-1 Man City result - Erling Haaland fires 18th goal of season as Pep Guardiola's men move fifth in Premier League table with dominant win

Erling Haaland continued his incredible start to the season as his 18th goal for club and country helped Manchester City complete a dominant 1-0 victory over Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium.

In truth, Pep Guardiola's slick side should have won by a greater margin, but were worthy winners at full-time with Norway forward Haaland, who has now scored in his past nine outings, giving Sepp van den Berg the slip from Josko Gvardiol's ball over the top on nine minutes to fire a shot low and hard beyond Caoimhin Kelleher.

Only an excellent stop by the former Liverpool goalkeeper prevented Tijjani Reijnders from adding a second on the volley before half-time after Spain midfielder Rodri was forced to depart the match with what appeared to be a thigh injury on 22 minutes.

A week after stunning Manchester United 3-1 at the same venue, Keith Andrews' side did very little to trouble City as their chance of becoming only the second side in Premier League history after Spurs in 1996 to defeat the Manchester sides on consecutive weeks rapidly disappeared.

Their only moment of note arrived when some rare slipshod City defending enabled Igor Thiago to get a run on goal early in the second half, but Gianluigi Donnarumma raced from his line to make his only notable save of the match.

City move up to fifth in the standings with 13 points from seven matches, three behind leaders Arsenal, while Brentford are fifth from bottom having picked up seven points from the same number of fixtures.

Guardiola can celebrate this, his 250th win in the Premier League, over the international break before his side host Everton on Saturday, October 18, with Brentford visiting West Ham for a London derby two days later.

"It was a tough game, and reminded me of Stoke City with Rory Delap 15 years ago," the City matchwinner told Sky Sports.

"They are huge and do throw-ins from the middle, so of course it is not easy. But it is about preparing for what is going to come and analysing well and we did.

"The backroom staff did their job really well. All praise to them.

"A low block is not easy, five people around us at all times. It is not easy and is why it feels even better.

"I have never felt better than I do now.

"It is about preparation, getting ready for the games. You can be physically ready, but you need to be mentally ready.

"With a kid it makes me even better because I disconnect more than ever, and I don't think about football at all.

"When you are young you maybe worry about things, but when I get home I relax even more. I think I need to give a shout-out to my son."

After scoring his 18th goal of the season for club and country, Haaland said: "This was one of my better goals for me because of the whole thing."

Fair to say, that the 1-0 victory did not reflect the balance of play. City were streets ahead, but can enjoy the international break after an enjoyable road trip to London for the players and fans.

Was far from pretty in the second half for City, but pretty effective in the end. City are worthy winners as Erling Haaland's early strike sees them end the weekend fifth in the Premier League table courtesy of a dominant 1-0 victory. Should have been more really, but one does the job in the end.

Fábio Carvalho replaces Kristoffer Ajer for Brentford. City having to face so many long throw-ins from Michael Kayode in this second half, but have handled them very well indeed.

Hickey sees his name up in lights as he lets fly from 25 yards. Miles over the bar. City almost home and hosed here.

Taking a big chance on the edge of his box, and can't get the ball away as Schade closes him down. Corner goes to Brentford, but comes to nothing as Josko Gvardiol heads clear.

Or daylight robbery. Or smash-and-grab. Take your pick from all the cliches going. Pep on verge of 250th victory in the top flight.

But this second half has not been a great watch from their viewpoint. Have managed to keep Brentford away from their goal most of the time, but shouldn't be sweating on these three points.

Nico O'Reilly picks up a booking for late one before Dango Ouattara earns a booking for simulation. Ill-advised in the era of VAR.

Brentford working ever so hard to close down space. Brentford win the ball at the halfway line, but the final ball again lets them down with nobody reading the Mathias Jensen delivery. Has been story of the match.

City are still well in command, but the scoreline does not reflect their level of dominance. Which is always dangerous when you are entering the final 10 minutes or so of action.

Still some life in this match at 1-0, but always good to buy some respite by changing a few faces. Bernardo Silva replaces Tijjani Reijnders with Jérémy Doku taking over from Oscar Bobb.

Vitaly Janelt replaces Jordan Henderson as Frank Onyeka comes on for the injured Yehor Yarmoliuk.

Yehor Yarmoliuk seemed to slip on the home surface, needs some treatment, but is unlikely to continue with the subs getting warmed up.

Plenty of good work from the England midfielder today, but he is a bit late on Foden. Into the book.

And they come for the home team as Mathias Jensen replaces Mikkel Damsgaard, and Dango Ouattara comes on for Igor Thiago.

Was crying out for a home shirt to attack that cross, but nobody gambled as the ball flies harmlessly away from Donnarumma's goal.

Foden makes the run and can't latch onto the throughball as Kelleher comes off to collect. Bobb was probably the easier option for a pass in that attack. Pep left frustrated in the technical area.

Opts to throw over a deep cross rather than race to the byline, but Kelleher is alert to come off and his line to clutch the high ball. Still 1-0 to City after 64 minutes.