Ibrahim Oladamola
Brentford’s European dreams fell at the final hurdle despite beating Premier League champions Manchester City 1-0 in west London.
Thomas Frank’s side needed to beat City and hope Aston Villa and Tottenham failed to win against Brighton and Leeds respectively. And while Ethan Pinnock’s late strike meant the Bees held their side of the bargain, both Villa and Spurs won, meaning the Bees remain in ninth.
It was a goal that Brentford deserved after dominating the chances all afternoon, as City lost for the first time since their defeat to Tottenham on February 5.
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Pep Guardiola’s side, who left Erling Haaland on the bench and Kevin De Bruyne at home, only had half-chances for most of the game but could have snatched a draw in stoppage-time.
Cole Palmer had three big chances from close range in the space of five seconds, seeing two good efforts blocked by match-winner Pinnock, before another was hacked off the line by Ben Mee.
After the game, Guardiola admitted his much-changed team was down to his a few niggles in his squad – including for De Bruyne, Jack Grealish and Ruben Dias.
