Man City player ratings vs Brentford: Erling Haaland is a freak! Goal machine runs riot again as Ederson proves his worth to keep Premier League champions perfect
GettyThe Norwegian broke Wayne Rooney's record for the fastest start to a season but just couldn't manage a third consecutive hat-trick
Erling Haaland paid the perfect tribute to his late family friend Ivar Eggja by making more Premier League history as Manchester City made it four wins out of four despite facing a stern test from Brentford.
Yoane Wissa gave the Bees – the last team to beat City at home in any competition, 22 months ago – the lead in just the 22nd second and Thomas Frank's side should have added to their early advantage.
The visitors dominated the ball for most of the first half and Ederson prevented them from striking again before Haaland equalised, celebrating in a restrained manner. The Norwegian then struck his ninth goal of the season to give City the lead before half-time, surpassing Wayne Rooney as the player to score the most goals in the first four games of a Premier League campaign.
Haaland had around an hour to make yet more history and become the first player in 78 years of English league football to score three consecutive hat-tricks and but the milestone just evaded him: he struck the post and had two shots blocked, one in a fine save by Brentford goalkeeper Mark Flekken.
City had other things to worry about though and Brentford were so dangerous on the counterattack that by the end Kevin De Bruyne resorted to keeping the ball in the corner to see the game out. The tactic worked and City raced three points clear at the top of the table thanks to Liverpool's shock defeat at home by Nottingham Forest.
GOAL rates Man City's players from the Etihad Stadium…
