EPL 2024: Manchester City win as Premier League title race heats up, Kevin de Bruyne injury update, Erling Haaland … – Fox Sports
Erling Haaland took Manchester City to within one point of Premier League leaders Liverpool but the champions were made to sweat for a 1-0 win over Brentford.
Just two points separate the top three in a fascinating title race with Arsenal one point adrift of City with 13 games to go.
Haaland was keen to make amends for a frustrating night in front of goal as City were held 1-1 at home by Chelsea on Sunday.
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But the Norwegian was made to wait until 19 minutes from time to break the deadlock when he raced onto Julian Alvarez’s pass to slot in his 22nd goal of the season.
Pep Guardiola left Kevin De Bruyne on the bench for the entire match as he manages the Belgian’s minutes after he missed the first five months of the season due to a hamstring injury.
De Bruyne’s ingenuity was missed as City struggled to make their domination count despite enjoying nearly 70 percent possession and having 25 shots on goal.
The Bees were the last visiting side to win at the Etihad 14 months ago and had their chances to spring another huge surprise.
Frank Onyeka failed to beat Ederson when one-on-one midway through the first half before Ivan Toney sent a dipping free-kick inches over the bar.
The vast majority of goalmouth action was coming at the other end, though, as Mark Flekken kept Brentford in the game.
Flekken was stretched into fine stops from Manuel Akanji and twice from Ruben Dias.
Oscar Bobb came closest to opening the scoring in the first half, on a rare start for the Norwegian youngster, when his effort was cleared off the line by Ben Mee.
Bernardo Silva also headed a glorious chance wide as Thomas Frank’s men held out until the break.
Liverpool and Arsenal’s hopes of a second unlikely gift from City in the title race in four days would have been raised by a quiet start to the second period.
However, City remain well in the hunt to become the first side ever to win four consecutive English top-flight titles for a reason.
One slip by Brentford defender Kristoffer Ajer provided the moment Haaland had been waiting for as he galloped clear on goal and kept his composure to score for just the third time in his last eight games.
City should have extended their advantage, especially as goal difference could yet prove decisive in the title race.
Phil Foden scored a hat-trick when the sides met earlier this month in City’s 3-1 win in west London.
But the England international was denied twice late on by Flekken as the goalkeeper tipped over a blistering shot and then stood up well to block as Foden tried to go round him.
FELLOW TITLE CONTENDERS SUFFER ANOTHER INJURY BLOW
Elsewhere, Diogo Jota faces “months” on the sidelines after damaging his knee in Liverpool’s win at Brentford, adding to manager Jurgen Klopp’s mounting injury woes as they chase Premier League glory.
Sunday’s 4-1 win victory in London came at a heavy cost as forward Jota and midfielder Curtis Jones were both forced off in the first half.
Jones left the stadium on crutches after injuring his ankle and Jota departed on a stretcher, while forward Darwin Nunez was also withdrawn with a knock.
Goalkeeper Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dominik Szoboszlai will be sidelined for Liverpool’s home match against struggling Luton at Anfield on Thursday while Thiago Alcantara and Joel Matip remain out of action.
Speaking about the injury situation on Wednesday, Klopp said the situation was “not great”.
“I would like to sit here and say we have absolutely no issues but obviously we have some,” the Liverpool boss said.
“So, not available is obviously Ali (Becker). That’s a muscle injury where we don’t know exactly how long it takes but definitely not for the foreseeable time coming back.
“Then we have Diogo with a knee issue, is ruled out. Curtis, with a bone/ligament issue, ruled out.
“And then we have the others where we will deal with it day by day with muscle things. We will see for tomorrow.”
The German did not give an update on Nunez during his pre-match press conference.
When pressed on timeframes for the injuries, Klopp said: “With Diogo, it will obviously take rather months.
“It’s with the injuries as well, so like you have important days. So, day five, day 10, they are always important days when you then judge the situation again because nobody reacts in the same way and it depends on the pain level they still have and stuff like this.
“I couldn’t give you a timeframe even if I wanted to, so that’s just how it is.”
Liverpool, locked in a Premier League title tussle with Arsenal and Manchester City, take on Chelsea in Monday’s League Cup final and are still in the FA Cup and Europa League.
