Erling Haaland scored his ninth Premier League goal of the season to earn Manchester City a laboured 1-0 victory at Brentford which lifted them to fifth in the table on Sunday.
The Norwegian muscled through to finish in style in the ninth minute to continue his impressive start to the season as City extended their unbeaten run in all competitions to seven.
It should have been far more comfortable for Pep Guardiola's side though and they were dealt a potentially significant blow when midfielder Rodri went off injured in the first half.
Brentford failed to have a touch in the City penalty area in the first half but did liven up after the break and Igor Thiago wasted a glorious chance to equalise.
City came under pressure late on under Brentford's aerial assault but held on to move to 13 points from seven games, three behind leaders Arsenal heading into the international break.