Manchester City reignited their Premier League title charge with an emphatic 3-0 victory over Brentford at the Etihad Stadium, and once again it was Jérémy Doku who stole the spotlight.

After the frustrating draw against Everton in the previous round — a match in which the Belgian winger scored twice but still saw City surrender crucial points to Arsenal in the title race — Pep Guardiola’s men entered this clash under real pressure to respond.

For much of the evening, Brentford managed to frustrate the reigning champions with disciplined defending, but the breakthrough finally arrived on the hour mark. Jérémy Doku produced a moment of pure quality, cutting inside before curling a brilliant strike beyond the goalkeeper to ignite the Etihad crowd.

Once ahead, Manchester City never looked back. Shortly afterwards, Erling Haaland doubled the advantage with a somewhat fortunate finish as the Norwegian striker capitalised on confusion inside the penalty area to score his latest league goal.

Deep into stoppage time, Haaland turned provider. The prolific forward unselfishly rolled the ball into the path of Omar Marmoush, who calmly slotted home to complete a dominant performance from the hosts.

The victory keeps Manchester City firmly in the hunt for another Premier League crown, cutting the gap to leaders Arsenal down to just two points. Meanwhile, Brentford remain eighth in the standings as their push for European qualification suffers another setback.

2025-26, England - Premier League

Manchester City - Brentford 3:0 (0:0)
Goals: Doku J., 60 (1:0); Håland E., 75 (2:0); Marmoush, 92 (3:0)

Manchester City: Donnarumma G.; Ake; Guehi; Reijnders (Foden, 60); Bernardo Silva; Matheus Nunes; Cherki (Marmoush, 60); O'Reilly; Håland E.; Doku J. (Sávio Moreira, 90); Semenyo
Substitution: Foden (from 60); Marmoush (from 60); Sávio Moreira (from 90)
Bench: Trafford; Dias R.; Stones; Aït-Nouri; Kovacic M.; Nico González
Yellow Cards: Bernardo Silva 36; O'Reilly 74; Matheus Nunes 88; Marmoush 90

Brentford: Kelleher; Hickey (Janelt, 61); Ajer; Collins N.; Kayode M.; Jensen Ma.; Yarmoliuk (Henderson, 79); Damsgaard M. (Ouattara Da., 68); Schade; Thiago I.; Lewis-Potter
Substitution: Janelt (from 61); Ouattara Da. (from 68); Henderson (from 79)
Bench: Valdimarsson H.R,; van den Berg S.; Pinnock; Dasilva J.; Nelson R.; Furo
Yellow Cards: Ajer 80; Henderson 88