Erling Haaland’s first-half strike earned Man City a hard-fought 1-0 win at Brentford, which moves them to within three points of Premier League leaders Arsenal – but an injury to Rodri was a worrying blow.

City were completely dominant during the first half, which saw in-form Haaland bulldoze past Sepp van den Berg to blast in his 18th goal of the season for club and country.

His run of scoring in nine games in a row is the best of his career at this level.

But Rodri’s exit after 20 minutes, after he pulled up clutching his right thigh, will concern Pep Guardiola, who had been managing the midfielder’s minutes as he continued to build up his fitness after his long ACL layoff last season.

There was at least the encouraging sign of Rodri later coaching his team-mates from the sidelines and then celebrating on the pitch at full-time.

Rodri’s absence was a big factor in Man City’s drop-off last term, and City lost their stranglehold on this contest after the break, as Brentford upped the intensity.

Igor Thiago squandered their best chance, allowing Gianluigi Donnarumma the opportunity to close him down in a one-on-one situation.

There was an onslaught of high balls into the City box, too.

Pep Guardiola now has 250 wins in the Premier League. This was his 349th game in charge in the competition, meaning he has reached the milestone faster than any other manager. (Former record holder Sir Alex Ferguson got to 250 wins in 404 games)

But City, who conceded a last-gasp equaliser at Monaco in the Champions League on Wednesday, stood up and held on to go into the international break on a seven-game unbeaten run and in an encouraging league position. Brentford – who failed to score for the first time this season – remain 16th.