Another goal for the prolific Erling Haaland. Another injury for the unfortunate Rodri.
Manchester City beat Brentford 1-0 in the Premier League on Sunday thanks to a competition-leading ninth goal by Haaland, who used power to shrug off one defender and then skill to go round another before slotting home in the ninth minute.
A hard-fought victory for City, which moved three points behind leader Arsenal, was soured by the sight of Rodri — the team’s key central midfielder and last year Ballon d’Or winner — being forced off midway through the first half with a suspected hamstring injury.
Rodri dropped to the ground, clutched the back of his right leg and looked crestfallen as he walked off the field gingerly. The Spain star missed most of last season with an ACL injury and has complained of knee pain in the first weeks of this campaign.
City climbed to fifth place with a fourth win in seven league games so far.
Unbeaten run over
Crystal Palace saw its club-record, 19-match unbeaten run in all competitions come to an end by conceding late in a 2-1 defeat at Everton.
Palace last tasted defeat on April 16 — a stretch lasting nearly six months and including winning the FA Cup for a first ever trophy — but was sunk by a goal in the third minute of stoppage time by Jack Grealish, who got in the way of a clearance by Daniel Munoz and saw the ball rebound straight into the net.
It completed a comeback by Everton, which equalized through Iliman Ndiaye’s 76th-minute penalty after Munoz put the visitors in front in the 37th.
Postecoglou’s pain
Ange Postecoglou remains without a win in seven matches in charge of Nottingham Forest after its 2-0 loss at Newcastle.
Forest has lost five of those games under the Australian, who was serenaded with chants of “You’re getting sacked in the morning” by his own fans during a midweek defeat in the Europa League.
“It is a struggle, it is a fight, there is nothing wrong with that,” said Postecoglou, who was fired by Tottenham during the offseason after winning the Europa League. “I could have been sat on the couch watching you guys but I prefer to be here right in the middle of it, where I can have an effect. I believe I will.”
Bruno Guimaraes curled in a beautiful shot in the 58th and Nick Woltemade added a second from the penalty spot for Newcastle, which won in the league for just the second time this season.
Pereira red card
Wolverhampton had manager Vitor Pereira sent off early in the 1-1 draw with Brighton for what the Premier League described as “irresponsible” behavior in the technical area.
Pereira might have been shown a red card for kicking the ball in frustration toward the fourth official’s seated area after what he thought was a foul on one of his players.
He was the second Premier League manager to be shown a red card this weekend, after Chelsea’s Enzo Maresca.
In the other match Sunday, Aston Villa beat Burnley 2-1 thanks to two goals by Donyell Malen.
___
Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
