Erling Haaland scored twice, bringing his Premier League goal tally to nine, as Manchester City overcame an early setback to secure a victory over Brentford and maintain their perfect record.
Brentford's Yoane Wissa netted the fastest goal of the season, heading into an empty net just 23 seconds in after a mix-up between John Stones and Ederson while attempting to clear Keane Lewis-Potter's nod-back.
Despite the shaky start, Haaland calmed City's nerves, firing in the loose ball after Kevin De Bruyne was dispossessed inside the Brentford box.
The Norwegian was playing despite the death of a close family friend in midweek. He scored a second before the break as he outmuscled Ethan Pinnock to reach Ederson’s long punt forward.
It left Haaland tantalisingly close to becoming only the fifth player in English top-flight history – and the first since 1946 – to score three successive hat-tricks.
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He came close. Brentford keeper Mark Flekken tipped one goal-bound effort over the bar. Haaland then sent an instinctive first-time strike against the post and was unable to get enough power behind the rebound to take it into the net.
But, despite the crowd clearly willing him on, dad Alfie watching from the stands and manager Pep Guardiola opting not to take him off even though his side start their Champions League campaign with a 2023 final rematch against Inter Milan on Wednesday, this time Haaland had to settle for two.
