'How to stop Erling Haaland' by Thomas Frank, after Brentford shock Man City
Thomas Frank has revealed the secrets to stopping Erling Haaland, as Brentford became only the second Premier League to do it this season.
Haaland has been a menace to society, that society being England's top tier of football, since joining Manchester City back in the summer.
Ahead of Saturday's game he'd already scored 18 times in just 12 games, including scoring in his 26 minute cameo vs Fulham the previous week.
Only Bournemouth and Liverpool had stopped him getting the ball in the net and only Jurgen Klopp's side had stopped him getting a goal or assist in a game.
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However, on Saturday afternoon, City continued the tradition of making sure anyone who had put the early kick off in their Saturday accumulator was left damning their decision making.
Brentford got the better of Pep Guardiola's side thanks to two Ivan Toney goals, with Phil Foden grabbing a goal from a great strike in between.
With the England forward's goal set up Manuel Akanji, Haaland was left scratching his head at the thought of a game where he hadn't been directly involved in a goal.
Following the match, Brentford boss Frank revealed it was all about stopping the supply to the big Norwegian.
"I really hoped they played Haaland because it’s only a really big win if you beat them with Haaland in the line up," the Dane said after the final whistle.
"We had a gameplan and it definitely succeeded. We tried to be aware of closing down [Kevin] De Bruyne, he had very few balls in dangerous areas.
"We were very aware of Haaland in the box and I think we only missed him once when he ran past Ben Mee - the whole team did fantastic but especially the three centre backs. Our performance was very impressive."
Instead it was Toney stealing all the headlines at the Etihad Stadium, less than 48 hours after Gareth Southgate didn't call him up for the World Cup.
The England forward, who was in the Nations League squads last month but didn't make an appearance, appeared to send a message to the Three Lions boss.
After scoring a 98th minute winner, on the break as City pushed for a winner of their own, he celebrated by putting his fingers in his ears.
Afterwards, Chelsea full back Reece James, who will miss the trip to Qatar through injury, appeared to back the striker on social media.
Frank added that he thinks the win over City is the biggest in the Bees history, adding, "Maybe this is the single best result in the club’s history.
"It’s massive. For the fans, I’m so happy we’ve created another unbelievably magic moment for them.
"They had the ball more, more shots, but it was deserved. We are the bus stop in Hounslow against the best team in the world."
Topics: Erling Haaland, Premier League, Brentford, Man City
Ryan Sidle