Erling Haaland’s early strike earned Manchester City a 1-0 triumph over Brentford and a landmark Premier League victory for Pep Guardiola.

Guardiola claimed his 250th top-flight win in charge of Man City, as his team picked up three Premier League points on the road for the first time since the opening weekend.

Haaland netted the decisive goal, showing his strength to leave Brentford’s defence behind before hitting the back of the net with aplomb.

Brentford attempted a second-half comeback, with Igor Thiago having a superb chance smothered by Gianluigi Donnarumma, but Man City – who lost Rodri to injury in the first half – held out for the win.

Man City move up to fifth in the table, three points behind leaders Arsenal heading into the international break, with Brentford sitting in 16th.

How the match unfolded

The visitors were ahead inside nine minutes, with Haaland brilliantly shrugging off Sepp van den Berg’s challenge before drilling a powerful shot beyond Caoimhin Kelleher.

Despite suffering a blow when Rodri went off injured after 22 minutes, City did not let up, with Phil Foden seeing a series of shots blocked before firing narrowly wide after nice link-up play with Oscar Bobb.

Kelleher was then forced into action shortly before the break, reacting excellently to parry the unmarked Tijjani Reijnders' instinctive volley with a strong right hand.

Brentford started the second half brightly, with Thiago latching onto a poor attempted clearance by Josko Gvardiol from Aaron Hickey’s long ball, but the striker took too long to take his shot, allowing Donnarumma to quash the danger.

The hosts nearly set up a nervy ending, though, with Kevin Schade closing down a dawdling Donnarumma and blocking the Italian’s clearance, but Man City’s goalkeeper was relieved to see the ball ricochet out.

Brentford’s fightback fizzles out

A double header at home against the two Manchester teams would have been daunting to Brentford, but they came into their match against City high on confidence after overcoming Manchester United last weekend.

However, they could not replicate their quick start against Ruben Amorim’s side as the script was flipped, with Van den Berg twice failing to get the better of Haaland before the Norwegian’s fine finish.

Openings for Thiago and Schade were few and far between in the first half as Brentford failed to have a touch in City’s box in the first half, with their only effort being a blocked long-range shot from their Brazilian No 9.

Thiago was also left to rue a glorious opportunity that could have changed the outlook of the match when he was clean through on goal after Gvardiol’s mistake, but he wanted too much time, allowing Donnarumma the space he needed to come off his line and block.

Brentford continued to up the pressure with no reward, and Schade’s luck was not in as his impressive pressing resulted in Donnarumma’s error.

Having seen their unbeaten streak at home this season come to a halt, Keith Andrews’ team will now attempt to find their first away win of the campaign against 19th-placed West Ham United after the international break.

Man City find away-day balance

After a wobble in form in August, Man City are back on track, and they are now unbeaten in seven games across all competitions. However, they had generally struggled on the road this season.

Having given up leads in trips to Brighton & Hove Albion and Arsenal, as well as against AS Monaco in the UEFA Champions League in midweek, Guardiola might not have been overly comfortable despite Haaland’s strike.

Nico Gonzalez effortlessly replaced Rodri in midfield following his introduction as Man City continued to push for a second goal, and a bit of insurance, with Foden looking to come good against Brentford once more.

Foden, who was omitted from Thomas Tuchel’s England squad earlier this week, kept pushing without getting a real sight of Kelleher’s goal as Brentford’s defence stood firm.

Man City coped well against the rising Brentford pressure in the second half, despite some nervy mistakes, but Guardiola’s frustration continued to rise as he saw more chances go begging.

In the end, it did not cost him a landmark victory, and his team – who next face Everton on 18 October – kept leaders Arsenal and reigning champions Liverpool firmly in their sights.