Jamie Redknapp has praised Erling Haaland after he scored the winner for Manchester City against Brentford on Sunday afternoon, while Micah Richards has named ‘the one thing’ Pep Guardiola’s side need to improve if they are to lift the Premier League title once again.
Man City made history by becoming the first team to ever be crowned Premier League champions four times in a row between 2021 and 2024. But they stumbled last term and dropped down to third place, allowing Liverpool to win the title during Arne Slot’s first season at Anfield.
City, Liverpool and Arsenal are expected to be the main challengers this campaign.
Arsenal beat West Ham United 2-0 on Saturday, while a late winner from Estevao Willian saw Chelsea pick up a 2-1 victory over Liverpool.
Defeat for the reigning champions gave City a great chance to make up ground and go within two points of Liverpool.
That is exactly what they did at Brentford, with goal machine Haaland netting the winner.
Josko Gvardiol sent a long ball in behind the Brentford defence and Haaland bullied Sepp van den Berg before rifling into the bottom corner on his left foot.
City dominated the first half but lost control after the break, which saw Brentford grow in confidence. The Cityzens held on though to make it five wins from their last seven matches across all competitions.
On Sky Sports, Redknapp said: “Three points off Arsenal now, they’ll be delighted with that. It wasn’t an easy game but when you’ve got Haaland in this kind of form, he’s unstoppable.
“I think it’s as good as I’ve ever seen him.”
Richards thinks City need to be more ruthless and ‘finish off games’ if they are to get back to their best and overcome the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal.
“What was interesting to see was the celebrations from the City players, they know how big that win is,” he said.
“In the first half, [it was] some of the best football I’ve seen from City. The one thing for City now is they need to finish off games.
“Because if Brentford take that chance that they got in the second half with [Igor] Thiago they’d be beating themselves up.”
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Haaland, Donnarumma key to Man City success – Micah Richards
When asked about City’s form this season, Richards replied: “That first game at Wolves, I thought City were back to their best. And then [they had] a few wobbles against Brighton and Spurs.
“Then it’s, have you got the mentality to get back? Can you stay in games, can you wait for other teams to drop points? That’s what’s happened this weekend.
“The quality they have, [Tijjani] Reijnders brings the energy, Haaland is at his best. A big thing they’ve got now, they’ve got a really good goalkeeper.
“[Gianluigi] Donnarumma, since he’s come to the club, he’s really made a big difference.”
City’s next game after the international break is against Everton at the Etihad on Saturday, October 18. After that, they travel to Villarreal in the Champions League.
Man City news: Next Guardiola job; contract talks planned
Meanwhile, City hero David Silva has discussed where Guardiola could go next after leaving the Etihad.
City made a big statement in January when they managed to tie Haaland down to an incredible new nine-and-a-half-year contract.
They are plotting contract discussions with another integral star next.