Man City 1-2 Brentford: Ivan Toney puts England snub behind him to net 98th-MINUTE winner

Oh, Gareth. How’s your luck? Ivan Toney scoring twice. Of course Toney scored twice, a mere two days after a World Cup squad announcement without his name among the 26.

Maybe it was one of those things that was always going to come to pass. Toney lifted fingers to his ears when scoring both, the second a dramatic winner deep into 10 minutes of stoppage time in front of supporters who were less than complimentary about England’s manager earlier in the day.

Make of the celebration what you will but there was definitely no nuance or shades of grey when Brentford’s manager, Thomas Frank, bounded over to the travelling support afterwards, pointing towards his striker to say, “he is the man”. They are aghast he isn’t heading for Qatar, given Harry Kane is the only Englishman with more Premier League goals than Toney’s 10 so far this season.

Ivan Toney’s brace helped Brentford beat Man City, two days after he missed out on a place in England’s World Cup squad

Toney struck the winner in the 98th minute after ten additional minutes were played on a dramatic afternoon at the Etihad

He is not Gareth Southgate’s man, though, and that – for the afternoon at least – presented some embarrassment for England. Very few come to Manchester City and leave with a brace; fewer still do that on a winning team.

‘Listen, the only thing is just keep doing well,’ Toney said in a composed television interview immediately after full time when he might have allowed the mask to slip given the circumstances.

‘Obviously it’s disappointing [not going to the World Cup] but, listen, I know what I’m capable of and I won’t let it put me down. Just keep going and keep doing well for Brentford. The motivation is the boys in the dressing room and the fans, as you can see.’

Aymeric Laporte went down for seven minutes with a head injury, which led to the unusually large amount of added time

Pep Guardiola’s side couldn’t find a way past Brentford’s resilient defence in the second half and were eventually made to pay

Yes, we could see. Brentford were magnificent, their first away victory of the campaign. They should have been two clear by the time Toney opened the scoring in the 16th minute and left deserving of a win.

‘Ivan: what a player,’ Frank said. ‘Honestly, what a player. He should’ve scored five goals. I showed him empathy when we spoke [about England]. We both think he should be there. I hope Gareth thinks about Ivan if there is an injury. He proved it against the best team in the world.’

On the other side, Pep Guardiola will now have to stew over this result – and rather abject display – over the coming weeks. Defeat like this felt as if it had been coming for a while and City looked like a team ready for a break from each other.

They have not exactly dropped many points in this title race, although equally have not made it particularly easy for themselves either, with big obnoxiously good performances giving way for comebacks or slender victories. Or this, outgunned by Brentford.

Toney put Brentford ahead with a superb header, the opening goal for Thomas Frank’s visiting Bees, in the 16th minute

‘The better team won,’ Guardiola admitted. ‘We had a lot of problems. When Toney flicked the ball, he created problems. We couldn’t regain the ball. We are (still) close to Arsenal.’

Defensively, they shook. Manuel Akanji struggled, barely emerging from an aerial challenge without losing it. Aymeric Laporte, bandaged after an accidental elbow by Ethan Pinnock drew a fair amount of blood, was equally uncertain. The less said about Joao Cancelo the better.

Brentford had gone ahead with Toney’s header, one that ricocheted off both he and Laporte as the striker remained onside from Ben Mee’s flick on, the effort looping over Ederson.

Ederson had completed two major stops – one to bail out those in front of him and the other to rectify his own error. Frank Oneyka had breached the back line, racing clear of John Stones, only for the City goalkeeper to spread himself and save with his legs.

England’s Phil Foden struck a fierce half-volley to level the match for the Premier League champions on the stroke of half-time

Foden’s goal came in first-half stoppage time, and ensured the scores were level as the two teams headed in at the break

Whether that was a bigger chance than Toney’s soon after is debatable, with the striker failing to turn in Bryan Mbeumo’s lay-off. That derived from Rico Henry’s strong 50-yard run down the left, bounding towards the home box, and Ederson poorly palming his cross into the path of an attacker. The eventual reflexes were eye-catching, yet Henry’s initial centre should have been dealt with.

But that touchline dash made you wonder whether Southgate had unfairly overlooked Brentford’s wing back. His performance was again vibrant and progressive. Given England’s paucity of options on that flank, perhaps Henry might have provided decent cover.

Then he had to defend. And he defended badly. One huge penalty appeal – all of Henry’s doing – was marginally turned away by VAR. The 25-year-old’s under-hit pass put Mee in bother, Bernardo Silva skipping by the centre half before then attempting the same to Henry. The ball struck his arm but centimetres outside the area.

Mee and Henry were also involved in two more incidents before Foden’s equaliser. The former tussled with the quiet Erling Haaland from a set piece and the latter caught a theatrical Kevin De Bruyne. City were left incensed that nothing came of either, with the same sort of incredulity at officiating that sparked last week’s victory over Fulham.

Toney’s late tap-in from a swift counter-attack ensured that Brentford left with all three points after a sensational move

Thomas Frank’s side were called upon to defend for large parts of the second half amid huge waves of City pressure

Phil Foden had their first shot on target four minutes before the break before eventually equalising in stoppage time. Akanji flicked on a corner and there it sat, bouncing once and then again, just before reaching Foden’s left boot. A perfect half-volley, rifling past David Raya – his first goal for a month.

City became restless as they wore on, Cancelo booked for diving inside the box. The hosts poured forward but so too did Brentford, substitute Josh Dasilva latching onto Yoane Wissa’s break and squaring for Toney to do the rest in the 98th minute. What a message that is to send.

‘We played the perfect game and you need that if you want to beat City,’ Frank said. ‘They were fantastic scenes in the dressing room.’

Frank and Toney went together to mark Brentford’s dramatic late win with the visiting fans

Read how Sportsmail’s SAMUEL DRAPER covered the action during the live blog for the Premier League clash between Manchester City and Brentford.