Erling Haaland scored 19 minutes from time to consign Brentford to a 1-0 defeat to Manchester City at Etihad Stadium.

Haaland capitalised on Kristoffer Ajer's unfortunate slip to race through on goal and slide beyond Bees goalkeeper Mark Flekken.

Thomas Frank's side showed great improvement from the 4-1 defeat to Liverpool at the weekend and will consider themselves unfortunate to leave the north west empty handed.

Brentford stand strong as first half ends goalless

Thomas Frank made three changes to the Brentford side that lost 4-1 to Liverpool last time out: Zanka, Frank Onyeka and Yoane Wissa replaced Nathan Collins, Mathias Jensen and Neal Maupay.

Manchester City made three switches to the team that started the 1-1 draw with Chelsea on Saturday evening. In came John Stones, Bernardo Silva and 20-year-old winger Oscar Bobb, as Kevin De Bruyne joined Nathan Aké and Jérémy Doku on the bench.

Man City, as expected, had the majority of the ball in the first 10 minutes, but attempts from Phil Foden and two from Erling Haaland didn't trouble Flekken.

Brentford had a good opportunity to test the City goal inside the opening period, when Ivan Toney slid a lovely ball into Yoane Wissa, but John Stones slid in to intercept. Sergio Reguilón picked up the loose ball, but his cross skewed out of play for a goal kick.

The Bees had another good chance five minutes later, when Wissa turned provider and fed Frank Onyeka. The midfielder had space to run into but, with Kyle Walker chasing him down, his weak effort on goal was saved comfortably by Ederson.

Álvarez was the next to try his luck on goal, when he had two efforts clear the crossbar, as the hosts continued to keep the ball and probe Brentford's goal.

And City's best chance of the game came soon after, with half an hour gone. A clipped ball over the top from Rodri fed Walker, who used his speed to keep the ball in and head it across goal. Bernardo Silva was the recipient inside the six-yard box and, somehow, he headed wide.

The Premier League champions continued to push and forced two fine saves out of Flekken. The first was a long-range drive from Manuel Akanji that the Netherlands international tipped over the bar, before he kept Rúben Dias's header out with his feet from five yards out.

It was Ben Mee who was performing heroics next, when he superbly cleared a goal-bound effort off the line. Bobb cut in from the right and, when Christian Nørgaard slid in, he jinked inside again before beating Flekken with his shot, only for Mee to cover and hook it away with the ball centimetres away from crossing the line.

The Bees were still keen to have their say on proceedings, winning free-kicks to relieve the pressure. And, from a second ball from a set-piece, a whipped Ajer cross found the head of Frank Onyeka, but his aerial attempt was held by Ederson.

Haaland capitalises on Ajer slip to give Man City the lead

It was Onyeka who led the first attack after half-time, as he sped forward on the counter.

A quick burst forward and an exchange with Reguilón put the Nigerian midfielder in a good position inside the area, but his cross was overhit and went out of play.

City continued to push, but the Bees limited them to shots from outside the box, which didn't trouble Flekken. Foden was the main culprit with 20 minutes to go, as he received the ball just inside the box, but spooned it well over the crossbar.

After some fantastic defending from Thomas Frank's side, it was a moment of misfortune that led to the opening goal. A ball played through to Haaland didn't look like it would trouble Ajer, but a slip on the wet pitch at the Etihad saw his Norwegian team-mate capitalise and, when one-on-one with Flekken, he passed it into the corner to make it 1-0.

Brentford looked to respond immediately, with Toney at the heart of things. The centre-forward was keen to create and, when his attempted pass came straight back to him, he thought he'd have a go himself. His effort looked goal-bound, but dipped just over the crossbar.

Haaland had the ball in the back of the net again with 10 minutes to play, but the assistant's flag ruled it out. Another pinpoint clipped pass from Rodri found Walker again and, this time, his pass across goal was converted by a team-mate. But the full-back had just strayed offside when receiving the initial pass.

Foden was keen to add to the three goals he scored against the Bees in the reverse fixture, but Flekken kept him out twice late on. First, a powerful effort was palmed over the bar, before he superbly got down low to deny the midfielder who tried to round him.

There was one final chance for the west Londoners at the end of the game, and it fell to Flekken, who switched boxes to try his luck on goal. A ball fell to the goalkeeper inside the area in stoppage-time, but he fouled Rodri as he tried to shoot.

Manchester City: Ederson, Walker, Dias, Stones, Akanji, Rodri, Bobb (Doku 61), Foden, Álvarez (Kovacic 89), Silva, Haaland

Subs not used: Ortega, Carson, Gómez, Lewis, Aké, Nunes, De Bruyne

Brentford: Flekken, Zanka, Ajer, Mee, Roerslev (Ghoddos 89), Onyeka (Damsgaard 89), Nørgaard, Janelt (Jensen 77), Reguilón (Lewis-Potter 77), Toney, Wissa (Maupay 68)

Subs not used: Strakosha, Collins, Baptiste, Yarmoliuk

Frank proud of 'top' Brentford performance

Brentford head coach Thomas Frank was proud of his side's "top" performance against Manchester City.

After the Bees didn't quite hit their top defensive performance levels against Liverpool, Frank was delighted with the resilience shown by his side on Tuesday night.

He said: “I’m very proud of the players. In many ways, it was a top defensive performance and a top performance, overall. 

“Against Wolves, we took some big steps forward defensively, not only because of the clean sheet; we took a step or two backwards against Liverpool, giving some goals away we normally don't give away.  

“And, today, I think we took some big steps forward again. The goal we conceded was just such an unlucky slip from Kristoffer Ajer - they're good enough with the quality they have in their team, they don't need those kinds of margins! That was, of course, frustrating. 

“But I’m so pleased with the players' mentality, the defensive structure and principles. We gave two chances away before the goal - the Bernando Silva header and the Oscar Bobb chance - that's very little against a top team like City."

Onyeka: AFCON success has given me momentum

Frank Onyeka put in an impressive display on Tuesday night, guarding the Bees’ backline and using his pace and power to drive his team up the pitch.

The midfielder started all seven of Nigeria’s Africa Cup of Nations games as the Super Eagles fell at the final hurdle against hosts Ivory Coast.

And Onyeka said he has returned to the Brentford side in good form, ready to attack the remainder of the Premier League season.

“Going back to Africa, helping my team, coming back fit, it’s been really good. I feel really fit,” he said.

On the 1-0 defeat, he added: “It was hard, but it was also good, especially defending and on counter-attacks.

“We came here believing we could do it again, so to lose 1-0 is sad, but it was a good performance.”