Relief. The pressure is building. Everyone is anxious after the Chelsea draw but the team managed to find a way. Despite all the chances in the last couple games the players missed, we only needed one to be taken tonight.

Enjoy that one more time. 👇

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Manchester City 1 - 0 Brentford | Game Review

MOTM: Manuel Akanji

Other standout performances include: Rodri (could have given it to either, both outstanding)

Notable Stats:

• Erling Haaland has now scored against every team he’s faced in the Premier League. Here is a breakdown of the amounts by team.

• Kevin De Bruyne is creating 4.9 chances per 90 minutes in the Premier League this season, the best ratio of any player to play at least 300+ minutes this season.

• Most clean sheets kept for Manchester City in Premier League history is now jointly held by Ederson (241 games) and Joe Hart (266 games) both having 109.

• Manchester City are now unbeaten in their last 48 midweek PL games at the Etihad (W42 D6).

Main Takeaways:

• Akanji was fantastic in this game and should remove any doubts people had about him this season. Arguably our best defender for 23/24 but needs some rhythm back after that injury.
  
  There is a reason why he was displacing Walker at RB, he is a much better option defending out wide, with Stones coming into midfield. His passing from that position is much more dangerous and incisive than Walker, which for the way City play is vital.
  
  Wonder when or if Pep will make the move for Akanji at RB, dropping Walker. IMO he is our best option just waiting to be plugged in. Keeping Walker rested for specific match ups.

• Alvarez on the right hand side brought a different look to the midfield set up and allowed Foden to be the midfielder working across the central areas. Popping up for rotations with both sides. It’s one game so I wouldn’t read too much into it either way but keep your eye on that moving into the next run of games.
  
  Lovely ball for the Haaland goal and should have had another in the first half with his cross. Wonder how much of his struggle to finish chances lately is due to minutes played and being low in confidence.
  

• Haaland is going through a tough patch of form with the chances missed yet is still managing to get himself crucial goals. Going through a lot personally and you can see the relief on his face rather than the supreme confidence we are use to when celebrating. Something I don’t see lasting for long given how many chances we create, eventually he will find that form again.
  
  Fantastic work to get into space, drive forward and score the goal that wins the game. Top finish. Provided a lot of link up on the edge of the box which a few times looked clunky and other times unlucky not to create a goal. Very tough for him in set pieces, always marked heavily and is never going to win a foul with his size. As wrong as it is, you need the referees do it every game.

• Oscar Bobb fitted in seamlessly to the team, looks like a starter not a squad player. Always tidy in possession and unfortunate not to have scored after a lovely touch to fake a shot, coming inside to shoot. Should be a more regular option for us and I expect he will start either the Bournemouth or Luton Town game.

• Foden was very switched on with his use of the ball in moments to slow down the tempo. Moved across the pitch to link up with different players, creating quite a few half chances and perhaps will be disappointed not to have scored his chance when through on goal.

• Mark Flekken put in two of his best performances this season against City, worth a mention that alongside our struggles to convert chances in this game and the previous one against Chelsea.

• John Stones in this team makes everything click at the back with our build up. Looking much calmer on the ball and not forcing every pass. Him and Dias took it in turns pushing up quite high to the final third to drag Brentford players out of position. Very tight in the middle to try find space and part of why Foden struggled to get a clear cut ball through to Haaland.

• Rodri at this point has become a man of the match contender every game he plays. His balls to Walker running in behind is one of our best attacking patterns this season. Long balls and switches all game long that open up space. Impossible for the opposition to get the ball off him.

• Jeremy Doku looked threatening when he came on, measured in his moments but a very solid substitute appearance. Adds so much value to the bench knowing he is able to come off it and affect games.

These are the type of games you take the three points and move on rather than trying to over analyze every single detail. If it wasn’t for Rodri mistiming a challenge for a ball over the top, Brentford are kept to no real chances for the entire game. Given their threat on set pieces and long balls, that is fantastic work by the team. Not everything looks fluid, we are not slicing through teams with ease but the blue print is there for City to win games and hunt down the fourth Premier League title in a row.

Moving Forward:

• If it wasn’t clear already, the essentials for winning the title could be seen for all last night against Brentford. City need Haaland to put away his chances. Rodri, Stones and KDB need to play as many games as possible in the run in. City must be patient in the build up and take care of the ball. Get Phil Foden in the middle of the pitch.

• Kevin De Bruyne getting a rest ahead of the game against Bournemouth, will likely have another against Luton in the FA Cup and then be fresh against Manchester United. Alvarez gives us the ability to rotate De Bruyne in the middle for games like the FA Cup tie against Luton next week.

• One thing is clear when you zoom out, Pep Guardiola is aiming to get as many players back into rhythm with consistent minutes and be fresh for March onward. To not run Stones and KDB into the ground every 3 days despite how much we all may want to see them play.

• Bournemouth game on the weekend is one we can expect Kevin De Bruyne to start, with Arsenal playing afterwards it will be time to put the pressure on them. Liverpool will play Wednesday night against Luton Town so we could arrive to Bournemouth with a chance to go top.

Interesting News & Links

• Kevin De Bruyne return from Injury has been documented by Manchester City, you can check out the full video here.

• Manchester City are keen on Sverre Nypan, a 17 year old Norwegian, playing for Rosenborg BK. Drawing similarities to Martin Odegaard. More here.

• Manchester City full intend on making a new bid for West Ham star Lucas Paqueta this summer, more here.

• According to Sports Zone, Achraf Hakimi is a player keen to leave PSG and could be on Manchester City’s radar, more here.

That’s all for this newsletter, rounding up our week with everything here at Sky Blue Times and the world of Manchester City. We are always looking for other ways to provide value to our subscribers so we appreciate any feedback provided in the comments below.

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