A broken dam. Brentford’s will and guile forced that, but so did nervousness in Manchester City’s defensive line.
A stretched and stunned defense that will be reinforced with two new faces in the coming days. That, in this mid-season transition that Pep Guardiola has sanctioned in a busy January window, cannot come soon enough for the champions.
And that doesn’t mean that a couple of young centre-backs (Lens’ Abdukodir Khusanov, Palmeiras’ teenager Vitor Reis) will solve City’s woes. It would be unfair to expect them to.
However, his performances may offer something of a respite for someone like Manuel Akanji, whose mistakes are disappearing. Or Josko Gvardiol, who Guardiola spoke to at full-time as City blew a two-goal lead eight minutes from time.
A weekend or two out of the line of fire can be beneficial and alleviate obvious mental fatigue. Both Brentford goals were avoidable, with Yoane Wissa turning from three yards under the posts as he beat Stefan Ortega and Christian Norgaard enjoying a free run to equalize in the 92nd minute. Nathan Ake threw up his arms in frustration and he wasn’t the only one.
City missed the opportunity to close these points. They were very positive on a chaotic night in which the teams exchanged 39 shots between them. Hitting each other and City matched the intensity of a Thomas Frank team that always scares.
Christian Norgaard scored a header in the 92nd minute and gave his team a big point against City.

Phil Foden scored twice after a hat-trick in the same game last season, but it wasn’t enough.

Pep Guardiola and his bosses have decided in unison that the transition cannot wait any longer
“What a football game,” Frank said. ‘It’s the first time we’ve gone head-to-head in 90 minutes. I know they’re not at full pace, but they still produce incredible brilliance.’
City had a chance, after Phil Foden’s double, to secure their third consecutive victory three times over. Guardiola appeared more upset that City did not “speed up” away from Brentford, discussing how many times his forward players made the wrong options than any defensive collapse. “What I missed today was that we didn’t make the right decisions in actions when we could run,” Guardiola said.
That highlights a third possible signing this month: Omar Marmoush. He can run. In Germany, Marmoush was lining up for Eintracht Frankfurt at exactly the same time this started, and he later scored in a 4-1 win over Freiburg.
Txiki Begiristain continues to negotiate with his counterpart Markus Krosche on finances. Sources indicated earlier this week that talks have progressed very well and Frankfurt hopes to recover around £67m.
Watching Matheus Nunes advance from right-back, cleanly with almost too much time on his hands, and then falter to such an extent that Brentford took possession inside their own area suggested City are right to look for more killer instinct.
The man who owns the majority, Erling Haaland, was unable to stretch far enough to fire De Bruyne’s exquisite left-footed cross, which made its way agonizingly out of Mark Flekken’s reach.
City know they need more firepower to help Haaland, although the Norwegian then exasperated Guardiola when he received a pass from De Bruyne too early. De Bruyne then nearly cleared the stands when trying to send in a loose ball. Things could be better in that department.
But they are also fully aware that, although scoring goals has not been as easy this year, the defensive reinforcements are equally important and will cost more than £60m for both.

While City faced Brentford, Omar Marmoush scored again against Freiburg.

There are defensive recruits for City: Abdukodir Khusanov (pictured) and Vitor Reis

Foden’s first strike in particular was a beauty as he cleverly converted a ball from Kevin De Bruyne.

The forward has struggled to regain form, but put his team ahead on a night of wasted shots.

Yoane Wissa took advantage of poor defending in the box to spark the Bees’ comeback.

Norgaard’s header came in added time, but Stefan Ortega should have done better
Guardiola was right in his assessment that there were decent things to take away from west London, but letting this slip away hurts. Especially having done the hard work of weathering a storm once the real opportunities fell to Bryan Mbeumo, Wissa, Mikkel Damsgaard and Keane Lewis-Potter.
The quality of Foden’s first game spoke to how good these attackers can still be. Savinho, a threat all night and hitting a post, strolled over and found De Bruyne wide on the right.
One touch, curl, Foden between the centre-halves, a deft guide towards the far post. Poetry. Foden scored a hat-trick here last February and this meant goals in consecutive starts for the first time since April. Having him back properly would be a huge plus.
That was its moment, when everything came together, but the opening of the City still yawns. Carved into pieces once again, Mbeumo in Wissa’s signature. Six meters away, Ake launched himself to try to avoid the tie. The warnings would not be heeded.
It should have provided a platform to secure these points, and Foden soon shrugged to celebrate and claim a second after converging on a loose ball with De Bruyne.
But Brentford bounced back. Wissa beat Ortega from Mads Roerslev’s cross with eight minutes remaining and there was a feeling there was more to come. Norgaard stood out after a late cross, and Ortega looked too weak to avoid the header.
Ortega looked upset afterwards, and Guardiola passionately told his goalkeeper (again instead of Ederson) to keep his head up.