Pep Guardiola admits his side were beaten by the better team on Saturday.
Pep Guardiola’s side missed the chance to move temporarily top of the Premier League table courtesy of a shock 2-1 home defeat to Brentford at the Etihad Stadium this afternoon.
Ivan Toney quickly put aside the setback of not being named in England’s World Cup squad with both goals for the Bees, netting the winner in the eighth of 10 minutes added time at the end of the game.
Phil Foden had levelled things up for the champions on the stroke of half time, fizzing a blistering half-volley into the top-corner, but Man City were otherwise frustrated by a resilient Brentford side throughout more than 100 minutes of football due to the lengthy period of stoppage time
Guardiola told Match of the Day: “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 exceptional in the Champions League and well in the Premier League. We’ll come back and prepare for the second-half of the season now.”
Pep Guardiola warned before the game that his stars could have “one eye” on staying injury free before the World Cup and the City boss’ fears were realised as the champions slipped to a first home defeat since February.
Guardiola’s concerns did not stop him naming a starting line-up containing 10 players going to Qatar.
Erling Haaland was the only exception as Norway failed to qualify and he returned to the starting line-up for the first time in six games due to a foot injury.
But Haaland was for once upstaged by his opposite number as Toney produced the perfect riposte to being overlooked by Gareth Southgate.
