The only team to complete a league double over treble winners Manchester City last season, Brentford were unable to pull off another upset against the Premier League champions on Monday - although they certainly gave Pep Guardiola's side a scare.

The Bees took the lead on 21 minutes through the in-form Neal Maupay - who now has five goals in his last five games on loan from Everton - and they dealt with everything City could throw at them up until Phil Foden equalised on the stroke of half-time.

Two more goals after the break earned the England starlet the match ball and sealed three points for a full-strength City side looking to ramp up the pressure on league leaders Liverpool.

Thomas Frank's opportunity to become the first-ever manager to win three straight league games against Guardiola may have slipped through his fingers, but the Bees boss afterwards praised his players for their efforts against "a very, very good team, probably the best in the world."

Maupay's smartly taken finish, a typically disruptive display from Ivan Toney and a very promising first start for left-back Sergio Reguilón were highlights for Brentford to take from the game, but the biggest positive was a coming-of-age display from Mark Flekken between the sticks.

The Dutch stopper arrived from Freiburg in the summer with a raft of impressive stats tucked under his belt: Flekken ranking top for clean sheets and third for most saves in the Bundesliga last term prior to signing for the Bees in the summer.

Although his calm demeanour and accurate distribution has helped Brentford's shift to a more possession-based approach in games this season, Flekken himself has admitted that it has taken time to adapt to a new club and a fresh challenge in the Premier League.

However, the 30-year-old produced a stellar display against the reigning champions, and his stats from last night were simply outstanding.

In total, Flekken made 12 saves against City, the joint-most made by a Premier League goalkeeper since David de Gea's 14 for Manchester United against Arsenal back in 2017.

Nine of those 12 stops came in the first-half, meaning Brentford's Dutch stopper made more saves in the opening 45 last night than any of his Premier League peers have managed prior to the interval this season.

Flekken ranks third in the top flight for saves outside the box this season and his knack for denying the opposition from range was clearly underlined by fabulous stops from Julián Álvarez, Kyle Walker, Joško Gvardiol and Kevin De Bruyne - the first two particularly eye-catching.

Arguably the best save of the night, however, was reserved for City goal machine Erling Haaland: the Norwegian's attempt to slot the ball into the bottom corner thwarted by a fantastic Flekken stop with his legs.

Limited to just 23 touches all night by a strong defensive display, Haaland left the Gtech no doubt pondering the fact that Brentford remain the only Premier League team he has failed to score against since he joined City from Borussia Dortmund back in June 2022.

Ranking seventh across UEFA’s top-five leagues for accurate long balls last season, Flekken's distribution is an undoubted strength and, in addition to his mammoth defensive display, he also assisted Maupay's goal - Toney pinning Nathan Aké to enable his French strike partner to race on to a perfectly weighted ping.

The assist marked the first by any goalkeeper in the Premier League this season and Flekken's all-round performance was that of a player at the top of his game - that impression confirmed by a number of his post-match quotes.

“It feels like I’ve finally adapted to the league and found my place," he said.

"I’ve got back to the level I used to be before my transfer to Brentford. It finally fits together, all of the pieces, and that feels good.

“It feels good to finally be able to show what kind of keeper I can be.”