Pep Guardiola warns 'don't criticise' Erling Haaland as Man City star returns to form

Pep Guardiola lauded Erling Haaland for silencing his critics as the Norwegian scored the only goal of a nervy 1-0 win for Manchester City over Brentford on Tuesday that lifted them closer to the top.

City moved to within a point of leaders Liverpool, with third-placed Arsenal one point further back with 13 games to go.

Three days earlier, Haaland had pushed a camera in frustration after failing to score with nine shots in a 1-1 draw with Chelsea. But he was back in form, increasing his league tally to 17 goals to erase any doubts about his scoring touch.

The Norwegian had only recently returned from a two-month injury layoff and Guardiola revealed he was also coping with the loss of his grandmother.

On Tuesday, Haaland raced onto Julian Alvarez's pass to slot in his 22nd goal of the season 19 minutes from time.

"Top strikers score a lot of goals. Don't criticise, he will shut your mouth. Sooner or later he is there," manager Guardiola said.

"He was out for two months, he lost his grandmother, it is not easy for a human being.

"We spoke about the moment (missing chances against Chelsea), and I realised this later, but he didn't say anything about the passing away of his grandmother.

21 – Erling Haaland has now scored against all 21 sides he’s faced in the Premier League; he’s just the second player to have played against more than two teams in the competition and scored against all of them after Harry Kane (32/32). Collector. #MCIBRE pic.twitter.com/rHuFdxzBiD

"In this type of game like Brentford, you need Erling. With not much space, you can play with a typical striker."

City struggled to break down a determined Brentford side. Kevin De Bruyne was kept on the bench throughout, not even emerging to warm up with the game