Manchester City were beaten 2-1 by Brentford at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, 12 November, 2022.
Ivan Toney put his England snub behind him by scoring twice, including an injury-time winner, to give Brentford a memorable 2-1 victory at Manchester City.
The Brentford captain delivered the perfect response to missing out on Gareth Southgate’s 26-man England squad for Qatar to stun the reigning champions and leave Arsenal top of the league at Christmas.
The visitors made a bright start and deservedly took the lead on 16 minutes when Ivan Toney nodded home Ben Meeās flick-on.
It was the Brentford forwardās 17th league goal of 2022 and a timely early reminder of his quality following his omission from Englandās World Cup squad.
City improved as the half wore on and levelled seconds before the interval when Phil Foden lashed a rising shot beyond David Raya.
The home side dominated following the interval but found it difficult to break down a resilient visiting rearguard.
City, who missed the chance to move top of the Premier League, were frustrated by a mixture of poor finishing, wasteful passing and resilient Brentford defending before Toney capped a statement performance by sensationally tapping in a 97th-minute winner.
Toney looked like he had passed up the chance to secure a shock win when he could not squeeze a shot beyond Ederson but minutes later grabbed the winner.
The hosts were denied a penalty when the VAR ruled Rico Henry had handled the ball just outside the area before another decision was dismissed when Kevin De Bruyne went down under a challenge from the left-back.
Foden, though, offered City some relief as he hammered home a sweet half-volley in first-half injury time. The goal led to a period of dominance at the start of the second half, yet Ilkay Gundogan missed a clear chance and City struggled to get Erling Haaland, who returned from injury to start, into the game.
And so it was left to Brentford’s talisman to take centre stage. Toney was denied by Ederson at the start of 10 minutes of added time – awarded for a lengthy injury stoppage to Laporte during the second half – but he was never going to miss from close range when Josh Dasilva played a perfect pass across the six-yard box at the end of a breakaway. Toney was even denied a hat-trick in the final minute by a goal line clearance.
The result sees City remain in second place, two points adrift of Arsenal who play Wolves later on Saturday evening.
Speaking after the match, Manchester City head coach Pep Guardiola said: “The best team won, we struggled from the beginning and we couldn’t deal with their long balls. Usually, you press the balls to win it but this was different. They defended so deep and so well.
“We didn’t have the dynamic today because we were dictated by long balls that we were losing. The game was so difficult, it was so tight. They did really well in the plan they had and were better.
“We have done exceptionally in the Champions League and well in the Premier League. We’ll come back and prepare for the second half of the season now.”