It had been billed as Erling Haaland’s grand comeback to the Manchester City starting XI. Perhaps there could be a shootout with Ivan Toney, the Brentford striker, who is also re-establishing himself after rather longer on the sidelines in the wake of his betting ban.
For a while, there was the glimmer that Neal Maupay could upstage them both when he gave Brentford a shock lead midway through a first half made memorable by the defiance of Mark Flekken in the home goal. But by the end, it was all about another attacker whose talent can seem utterly irresistible on nights like these.
