Jeremy Doku's Stunning Goal Keeps Manchester City's Title Hopes Alive
Jeremy Doku needed only one moment.
An hour had gone at the Etihad Stadium, Brentford still clinging on, bodies behind the ball, belief intact. Then the Belgium winger rolled inside onto that electric right foot and bent a ruthless finish into the top corner, the kind of strike that rips the air out of resistance and the doubt out of a title chase.
It was Doku’s fourth goal in three games in all competitions for Manchester City, a run that now includes his pair of dazzling efforts in the chaotic 3-3 draw at Everton on Monday. Those goals on Merseyside had lit up the night but not the table. City’s failure to beat Everton nudged control of the title out of their hands. This one against Brentford was about keeping the flame alive.
The equation is brutal in its simplicity. City trail Arsenal by two points. Arsenal go to struggling West Ham on Sunday and know that three wins from their final three matches – West Ham, Burnley, Crystal Palace – will clinch the title. City can no longer shape the race alone. They can only stalk it.
Doku, though, is giving them a sharp edge for the run-in.
“Jeremy is outstanding in many things. Looks like a final product already and of course he can improve,” Pep Guardiola said, his admiration obvious. “Always had this incredible ability to dribble and to make action and connection, it's outstanding. But now it's winning games. I'm so incredibly pleased to have a guy that brings energy and that can score goals.”
That last line matters. City have not always killed teams off this season. The Everton draw still stings. Leading 3-1 and then watching the game unravel has become, in Guardiola’s eyes, a symbol of their looseness at key moments.
“Everton was the real proof, 3-1 down and emotions. The second half we give away,” he admitted. “It happened last season many times, now we're more solid but we still give away. That's football, it's how you react. I'm pleased for the way we have done it.”
Against Brentford, they had to react early. City suffered in the opening minutes, the visitors snapping into duels and refusing to be overawed. The champions-in-pursuit looked edgy. Then the patterns returned, especially down the left, where Doku repeatedly drove at his full-back and dragged Brentford’s shape out of line.
“We suffered in the first minutes today but after that we played a really good game,” Guardiola said. “Especially left side in the first half, both sides in the second.”
The pressure finally told on the hour, Doku’s curling finish a reward for that sustained siege down his flank. Once again, his directness changed the temperature of the match. City, who had been probing, suddenly looked like a side that still believe the title can be prised from Arsenal’s grip.
Guardiola, though, knows the reality of the table.
“We will see, that is not in our hands. We will do our job. We didn't do it perfectly with Everton. We will do our job and wait,” he said.
That is where City are now: waiting, chasing, relying on someone else to falter. Arsenal have the clean line to the trophy. City have Doku in full stride, a manager demanding perfection, and just enough time left to ask one last, awkward question of the leaders.
