If you haven't watched the Manchester City vs. Everton match in Round 24 of the English Premier League, don't worry; yesterday's encounter between City and Brentford, postponed from Round 18, was a mirror image of it.
Thomas Frank fortified his defenses well against Manchester City's fierce attack, successfully holding them off for 70 minutes before Erling Haaland came in to disrupt everything in a moment.
What Brentford's coach did was previously done by Sean Dyche, and the result remains the same – a loss to City led by Haaland, who doesn't need much time to showcase his quality.
Haaland doesn't know the jinx.
Yesterday's match meant a lot to the Norwegian because, before this game, he played against 21 teams in the English league, scoring against all of them except Brentford, whom he faced in the two previous matches.
Things were going well for the visitors to confirm this curse, as they succeeded in putting pressure on Manchester City's attack and isolating Haaland from playmaking keys like Julian Alvarez, Phil Foden, and Oscar Bob in the first half.
Kevin De Bruyne, the crucial player for City lately, was on the bench to avoid fatigue, but Pep Guardiola didn't rely on him. Instead, he introduced Jeremy Doku to change the attacking shape slightly in favor of the home team, securing a 1-0 victory with Haaland's goal.
The overall performance wasn't extraordinary, but what happened was a repetition of the scenario seen against Everton and some other matches. You can defend against Manchester City, but everything ends when Haaland gets the opportunity to score.
Yesterday passed smoothly with a valuable win, placing City in second position, just one point behind Liverpool, the league leaders. However, it confirms the reality that the titleholder needs to search for other solutions because there will come a time when someone manages to prevent Haaland from scoring for a full 90 minutes, just like Chelsea did last Saturday, securing a draw at the Etihad Stadium.
Haaland vs. Mbappe – who's better?
Amidst discussions about the anticipated historic deal of Kylian Mbappe moving to Real Madrid and with Haaland's outstanding performance at Manchester City, questions arise about who is the better striker between them at the moment.
The Norwegian has scored 22 goals in 28 matches with City in all competitions, while Mbappe has scored 32 goals in 31 matches with Paris Saint-Germain. The difference seems significant this season.
Perhaps this season reflects Mbappe's superiority over Haaland, not just in terms of goal numbers but because the Frenchman contributes more to events when playing as a pure striker, providing the team with many advantages regardless of goals. This is in contrast to Haaland, who often succumbs to tight marking, relying on escaping to change the scenario in a moment.
Today is another proof that Manchester City's star is entirely different from Mbappe, and with the latter moving to Real Madrid, the Norwegian will have to put in a lot of work to win the Ballon d'Or in the near future.