Brentford striker Ivan Toney struck twice to give his side a shock 2-1 victory at champions Manchester City on Saturday in their final Premier League game before the World Cup break.
Toney, left out of England’s squad for Qatar, made the most of a bright start by Brentford, breaking the deadlock in the 16th minute when Ben Mee headed back across the box and Toney sent a looping header over Ederson and into the net.
City had a strong shout for a penalty for a handball turned down before they equalised on the stroke of half-time when Kevin De Bruyne’s corner was flicked on and Phil Foden drilled home a superb half-volley for his eighth league goal of the season.
There was a lengthy stoppage just after the break when Aymeric Laporte, who has been named in Spain’s World Cup squad, received treatment after an inadvertent elbow from Ethan Pinnock opened a gash on his forehead.
City racked up 29 goalscoring opportunities but only managed six on target as Brentford’s defence suffocated their attack and restricted striker Erling Haaland to a couple of half-chances.
That set the stage for Toney’s winner as Brentford broke forward deep into second-half stoppage time, and the 26-year-old made no mistake as he fired home to secure a stunning victory.
“Obviously (being left out of the England squad was) a disappointment but I know I’m capable of and I won’t let it put me down.
“I’ll just keep going and keep doing well for Brentford,” Toney said.
Spurs fight back
Tottenham Hotspur produced a thrilling late fightback to beat Leeds United 4-3 in a thriller as Rodrigo Bentancur scored two late goals.
Antonio Conte’s side were heading for a third successive home league defeat after Rodrigo’s brace gave Leeds a 3-2 lead with less than 10 minutes remaining.
But Bentancur’s deflected shot made it 3-3 in the 81st minute and two minutes later he was set up by Dejan Kulusevski for a simple finish to stun the visitors.
Latin flavour
Liverpool’s South American strikers Darwin Nunez and Roberto Firmino propelled the team to a 3-1 home win over Southampton. Firmino, who this week was left out of Brazil’s squad for the World Cup, put Liverpool in front in the sixth minute by glancing an Andy Robertson free-kick into the net.