<p>Erling Haaland scored the lone goal in Manchester City’s thrilling 1-0 victory against Brentford on Tuesday, according to Pep Guardiola, who added that the strike had “shut the mouths” of his detractors. With 13 games remaining, third-place Arsenal is one point behind leaders Liverpool, while City has closed the gap to only two points behind the top three in an exciting Premier League championship fight. After a disappointing night in front of goal on Saturday, when City was held 1-1 at home by Chelsea, Haaland was eager to make apologies.</p>
<p><img decoding=”async” class=”alignnone wp-image-426141″ src=”https://www.theindiaprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/theindiaprint.com-erling-haaland-shuts-mouths-as-man-city-draws-near-liverpool-rtihd55-erling-haalan-750×563.jpg” alt=”theindiaprint.com erling haaland shuts mouths as man city draws near liverpool rtihd55 erling haalan” width=”1077″ height=”808″ title=”Erling Haaland 'Shuts Mouths' As Man City Draws Near Liverpool 3″ srcset=”https://www.theindiaprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/theindiaprint.com-erling-haaland-shuts-mouths-as-man-city-draws-near-liverpool-rtihd55-erling-haalan-750×563.jpg 750w, https://www.theindiaprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/theindiaprint.com-erling-haaland-shuts-mouths-as-man-city-draws-near-liverpool-rtihd55-erling-haalan-768×576.jpg 768w, https://www.theindiaprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/theindiaprint.com-erling-haaland-shuts-mouths-as-man-city-draws-near-liverpool-rtihd55-erling-haalan-150×113.jpg 150w, https://www.theindiaprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/theindiaprint.com-erling-haaland-shuts-mouths-as-man-city-draws-near-liverpool-rtihd55-erling-haalan.jpg 806w” sizes=”(max-width: 1077px) 100vw, 1077px” /></p>
<p>Only recently has the Norwegian returned from a two-month injury layoff, and Guardiola said that off the field, he was also coming to terms with his grandmother’s passing.</p>
<p>However, Haaland looked more like the player he used to be in front of goal when, 19 minutes from time, he raced onto a feed from Julian Alvarez to score his 22nd goal of the year.</p>
<p>“Strong forwards are prolific goal scorers. Refrain from criticizing; he will silence you. He will arrive sooner or later,” Guardiola said.</p>
<p>“It is difficult for a human being to lose one’s grandmother; he was away for two months.”</p>
<p>“We spoke about the moment (missing chances against Chelsea), and I realised this later, but he didn’t say anything about the passing away of his grandmother.”</p>
<p>Because of “niggles” in his hamstring, Guardiola rested Kevin De Bruyne on the bench the whole time.</p>
<p>The Belgian’s hamstring rupture kept him out of action for the first five months of the campaign.</p>
<p>De Bruyne’s creativity was missing as City, with over 70 percent of the play and 25 attempts on goal, failed to convert their dominance.</p>
<p>Fourteen months ago, the last visiting team to triumph at the Etihad was the Bees, and they had an opportunity to cause yet another major upset.</p>
<p>Halfway through the first half, Frank Onyeka was unable to beat Ederson one-on-one, and then Ivan Toney curled a free kick just over the bar.</p>
<p>Most of the action in the goal came from the opposite end.</p>
<p>Oscar Bobb, a young Norwegian, had a rare start in the first half and came the closest to scoring when Ben Mee cleared his shot off the line.</p>
<p>While Thomas Frank’s team held out till the half, Bernardo Silva also missed a fantastic opportunity with a header.</p>
<p>A calm start to the second quarter would have enhanced Liverpool and Arsenal’s prospects of receiving a second unexpected gift from City in the championship battle in four days.</p>
<p>But City is still very much in the running to become the first team in history to win the English Premier League four times in a row.</p>
<p>Haaland finally got the chance he had been waiting for when Brentford defender Kristoffer Ajer made a mistake. He raced clear on goal and maintained his calm to score for only the third time in his past eight outings.</p>
<p>“I am really proud of myself. “Until the goal, which is a slip, we didn’t give much away,” Brentford manager Frank said.</p>
<p>“They seem adequate to me. To cross the line, they don’t need such good fortune!”</p>
<p>Given that goal differential might still decide the winner, City ought to have increased their lead.</p>
<p>When the teams met earlier this month, City won 3-1 in west London thanks to a hat-trick from Phil Foden.</p>
<p>However, Flekken denied the England international twice in the closing moments of the game. First, the goalkeeper parried a quick effort, and then Foden attempted to run around him, but Flekken rose up well to stop.</p>
