How was Haaland shut out by Brentford? Gundogan explains why Man City striker drew a rare blank in shock defeat

WHAT HAPPENED? Pep Guardiola’s reigning Premier League champions suffered a shock setback against the Bees when going down 2-1 to a couple of Ivan Toney goals at the Etihad Stadium. Haaland made little impact on proceedings, despite having 23 efforts to his name across all competitions this season, with the Norway international restricted to just 21 touches across 90 frustrating minutes.

WHAT THEY SAID: German midfielder Gundogan has tried to explain why Haaland was unable to get into the game: "In general, I kind of disagree that we had chances in the second half. It felt like we crossed a lot of balls in areas where Erling was, but he was always against three men.

"I felt like especially getting the ball in between the lines of their defence because their back four or five was quite deep, I felt like there was no space between the midfield and the back five. I also tried to make a few runs to the first post and every time I ran there, I felt like I was so free because Erling got all of the attention."

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Brentford succeeded against Haaland where many have failed in the 2022-23 campaign, with one of the brightest talents in world football having taken the Premier League by storm following a summer transfer from Borussia Dortmund.

IN THREE PHOTOS:GettyGettyGetty Images

DID YOU KNOW? Manchester City had 29 shots against Brentford, their most in a Premier League home game they failed to win since April 2021 – a 2-1 home defeat to Leeds in which they conceded a 90th minute winner.

WHAT NEXT? Haaland, who has been nursing a foot injury of late, will get a bit of a break over the next few weeks – despite having international friendly duty on the cards – as he will not be heading to Qatar for the 2022 World Cup alongside many of his club colleagues.