(Adds quotes) By Martyn Herman LONDON, Oct 5 (Reuters) – 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 electric start to the season as City extended their unbeaten run in all competitions to seven. Pep Guardiola's 250th Premier League win for City should have been more comfortable than it was and he was 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 opening period but did liven up considerably 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. "We played an outstanding first half that is close to our best in many, many things," Guardiola, who has reached 250 Premier League wins in record time, said. "The problem is when you don't score goals the second half is more difficult." While City still appear in a transition phase, the sight of Haaland banging in the goals for fun will be a cause of alarm for the sides expected to be fighting for the title. In truth, he was well-shackled by Brentford's defence after his goal, but he had already done the damage by scoring in nine successive games for club and country for the first time. City spent the first half racking up the passes as a passive Brentford were reduced to the role of spectators. For all their intricate passing though, City's goal was simple in the extreme. Josko Gvardiol lofted a ball down the left towards Haaland and he used his power to surge past Brentford's defence into the area and thump a shot past Caoimhin Kelleher. City's afternoon took a dark turn soon afterwards though when Rodri, who missed almost all of last season with a knee injury, pulled up unchallenged and sat disconsolately on the turf, before hobbling off with a hamstring injury. Guardiola later said Rodri faced two to three weeks out. Even without the Spaniard, it continued to be one-way traffic and it could have been all over before halftime had City been a little more hungry in front of goal. Phil Foden missed one half-chance while Tijjani Reijnders was denied by a great one-handed save from Kelleher. MORE AGGRESSIVE Brentford showed more aggression after the break though and almost stunned City with an equaliser out of nothing. A punt forward was not dealt with by City's defence and Thiago was clean through but never really looked in complete control and his shot was saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma. Michael Kayode headed a half-chance over the bar for the hosts and as the minutes ticked down Guardiola looked increasingly agitated on the touchline as Brentford lobbed long throw-ins into the heart of City's area. City's hearts were in their mouths in the 90th minute when Donnarumma's clearance was charged down by Kevin Schade and the rebound went narrowly wide of the post. "We made it very uncomfortable for them in the second half," Brentford manager Keith Andrews said. "Apart from the goal they didn't come through us and second half we were outstanding." (Reporting by Martyn Herman Editing by Toby Davis and Pritha Sarkar)
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