Manchester City's 3-0 victory over Brentford in Gameweek 36 was a strong start to their double-header, particularly for those who had Triple Captained Erling Haaland or owned City defenders. However, the story of the game was not just about the winners, but also about the players who were left frustrated, particularly Antoine Semenyo and Rayan Cherki. While Haaland's effective ownership at most rank tiers was high, even those who captained him without Triple Captaining him lost ground when he scored. This raises a deeper question: what makes a player truly successful in Fantasy Premier League (FPL)?
Semenyo, who was largely stymied down the right flank, produced the occasional flash of inspiration. His one official 'chance created' was for Haaland in the first half, with the Norwegian seeing his header saved. However, Semenyo played a big part in City's second goal, which was finished off with a scruffy backheel from their number nine. The question remains: why no assist? For two reasons, actually. Firstly, Opta recorded Haaland as having two bites at the cherry, the first one saved. Secondly, even if Haaland had finished at the first attempt, Omar Marmoush would have got the assist; it turns out that the Egyptian inadvertently touched Semenyo's deflected cross en route to the Norwegian.
Cherki, the most-bought player of the Gameweek, didn't even make the hour-mark. The Frenchman and Tijjani Reijnders, a surprise starter in the middle of the park, both came off after 59 minutes. The reason? Pep Guardiola wanted more natural goalscorers in the box. Brentford had largely been successful at frustrating City, with the score 0-0 at the time of Cherki's departure. On came Phil Foden and Marmoush, who were both effective. Foden burst into the box on a couple of occasions and drew smart stops out of Caiomhin Kelleher, while Marmoush rounded off the scoring in injury time.
Jeremy Doku, meanwhile, took top honours with a goal and an assist. He's playing with such confidence at the moment, and now has five attacking returns in as many starts since returning from injury. Doku's performance was particularly fascinating, as he picked up his baseline bonus points from a variety of sources, including key passes, big chances created, dribbles, and fouls won. His goal was a similar effort to his equaliser against Everton, a superb, curling effort into the top corner.
Despite the 3-0 result, Brentford's performance was not a disgrace. The gameplan was working well until Doku's goal, which involved the Belgian getting a fortunate run of the ball. The Bees only registered four shots across the game, but there were other scares for City, including a long throw that had to be cleared off the line and a decent penalty shout for Kevin Schade. Igor Thiago twice went close, forcing Gianluigi Donnarumma into saves.
In conclusion, Manchester City's victory over Brentford was a strong start to their double-header, particularly for those who had Triple Captained Erling Haaland or owned City defenders. However, the story of the game was not just about the winners, but also about the players who were left frustrated, particularly Semenyo and Cherki. Doku's performance was particularly fascinating, as he picked up his baseline bonus points from a variety of sources. While the result may have been flattering for City, it did a disservice to Brentford, who had a gameplan that was working well until Doku's goal. As City prepare for their next game, they will need to continue to support Haaland and find ways to improve their attack, while Brentford will need to find ways to overcome their defensive struggles and return to form.
