Premier League: Pep Guardiola gets honest as Manchester City denied four penalties in heartbreaking defeat to Brentford

Then, Ivan Toney's goal in the 98th minute ended Manchester City's hope of a draw as Brentford did to Manchester City exactly what the champions did to Fulham last week with a smash-and-grab victory in extra time.

Despite possessing the ball most of the time, Manchester City failed to create clear-cut opportunities and stretch Brentford's defence, which stayed tenacious.

Despite having 29 scoring opportunities, Manchester City's offensive was stifled by Brentford's defence, which limited forward Erling Haaland to a handful of half-chances.

This set the situation for Ivan Toney's game-winning goal as Brentford broke forward deep in second-half stoppage time, and the 26-year-old didn't make a mistake as he buried his shot to secure a surprise triumph.

Brentford proved a formidable opponent despite Pep Guardiola fielding a lineup with ten players who will compete in Qatar.

However, the most controversial aspect of the match was when Manchester City was refused four penalties in a matter of seconds, with each incident being reviewed by VAR. No fouls were awarded for Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne, or the two potential handballs that were reviewed.

Three of the calls occurred within the same play phase. First, no definitive angle indicated that Rico Henry's handball happened inside the box. Second, the Cityzens demanded a foul for Erling Haaland's shove, which was not deemed sufficient to award a penalty kick.

Then, Kevin De Bruyne theatrically addressed Rico Henry's challenge, and his appeal was immediately denied. Shortly after, another handball was called even though the ball did not touch the defender's hand.

Pep Guardiola gives his verdict on Manchester City's defeat

After the match, City coach Pep Guardiola explained that his team struggled against the visitors, "The best team won, we struggled from the beginning, and we couldn't deal with their long balls. Usually, you press the balls to win it, but this was different."

"They defended so deep and so well. We didn't have the dynamic today because we were dictated by long balls that we were losing. The game was so difficult, it was so tight. They did really well in the plan they had and were better," Pep Guardiola continued.

Losing to Brentford means they will enter the World Cup break in second place in the Premier League table, with Arsenal now poised to open a five-point gap at the top that will persist until after the holidays if they defeat Wolves on Saturday evening.