Erling Haaland continued his prolific form as Manchester City secured a narrow victory over Brentford, giving manager Pep Guardiola his 250th Premier League win.
Guardiola is the 16th manager to reach the milestone with a single club, but he did so in only 349 games, 74 games faster than anybody else.
Haaland outmuscled Sepp van den Berg to collect Josko Gvardiol’s looping cross, then wriggled away from the defender before perfectly placing it beyond Caoimhin Kelleher.
It is the Norwegian striker’s third goal of the week and his 18th in 11 outings for club and country this season.
City had to defend their narrow advantage at the Gtech Community Stadium for more than 80 minutes, but they limited Brentford’s opportunities, despite the game opening up slightly in a scrappy second half.
Victory puts City up to fifth place before the international break, although midfielder Rodri was forced to leave after only 21 minutes due to an injury.
The Spaniard lost much of last season due to an anterior cruciate ligament injury and has yet to regain the form that earned him the Ballon d’Or the previous year.
The Bees’ victory over Manchester United last time out was a pleasant outcome after earning only four points in their first five games.
Despite a fairly dismal start to the season, Brentford were yet to lose at home.
Brentford was a frequent problem for Guardiola under Thomas Frank, and they were the only team to defeat City twice in the treble-winning season two years ago.
In his first management duty, new Bees manager Keith Andrews went with a back five on Sunday, with Kristoffer Ajer replacing Dango Ouattara, and the team struggled for chances in the first half.
Brentford did not make a single touch in their opponent’s penalty area during the first half for the first time in 159 Premier League games.
After the break, the game opened up more, with Michael Kayode shooting over the bar, while Brentford confined City to just one shot in a flat but scrappy second half.
The hosts’ greatest chance came when Igor Thiago, who has five goals this season, was one-on-one with Gianluigi Donnarumma, but the Italian goalie made an excellent stop.
Brentford is now 16th in the league, having won two of their last seven matches.
