Leading by 2 goals, Man City still held to a draw by Brentford

When midfielder Christian Norgaard scored the equalizer for Brentford, coach Pep Guardiola sat silently in his seat. This was the 11th match Man City dropped points in the Premier League this season.

The 53-year-old coach was even more disappointed when Man City missed the chance to return to the Top 5, despite Phil Foden scoring 2 goals for the visitors. All 4 goals in this match came in the second half, not to mention many unfortunate misses.

Foden opened the scoring for Man City in the 67th minute with a close-range shot to the far corner, but the first credit went to captain Kevin de Bruyne with a cross from the right.

The second goal was largely credited to 21-year-old midfielder Savinho, who stole the ball from the home team's defender, raced down the left side of the penalty area and fired a powerful shot that forced goalkeeper Mark Flekken to push out, right where Foden fired the rebound into the net.

This season, Man City lost despite leading Feyenoord by 3 goals in the Champions League. Therefore, their stumble at Brentford is not too surprising.

In the 81st minute, defender Mads Roerslev crossed the ball from the right side of the penalty area to Yoane Wissa, who easily controlled the ball and shot close to the goal without any opponent approaching. Center back Nathan Ake missed his header, and Manuel Akanji was unable to get back to mark him.

Guardiola has repeatedly mentioned Man City's mentality when they concede a goal. This problem has not improved, as the visitors continued to concede a goal in the second half's injury time. Defender Keane Lewis-Potter crossed from the right for captain Norgaard to head back, when Ortega got a hand to the ball but could not save it.

Brentford players even ran to get the ball from Ortega to quickly pass it to the halfway line, hoping to score another goal. They almost succeeded when Bryan Mbeumo's shot forced Ake to head it wide on the goal line.

Having narrowly escaped death in West London, City can console themselves with the fact that they are unbeaten in their last five games in all competitions. But their chances of retaining the title are all but gone, as they are 12 points behind Liverpool and have played a game more.