City move closer to leaders Liverpool, PSV draw with Dortmund, Arnautovic strike gives Inter lead over Atletico

Manchester City moved closer to Premier League standings top after beating Brentford 1-0 at home on Tuesday, extending their unbeaten record at the Etihad since Brentford gave them their last home loss 15 months ago.  

Liverpool, who lead with 57 points, are joined by City and Arsenal as the three top-ranked teams with gaps of one point in between, followed by Aston Villa at fourth with 49 points. Brentford are ranked 14th with 25 points.  

City's top scorer in the league Erling Haaland broke the deadlock in the 71st minute, while also lifting his goals to 17 this season. The Norwegian shook off his goalless frustration from their last fixture with Chelsea, sprinting onto a through ball from Julian Alvarez past a slipping Kristoffer Ajer before beating keeper Mark Flekken. He then had a late goal ruled out because Kyle Walker was offside in the buildup.

"He was out for two months (with a foot injury), he lost his grandmother, it is not easy for a human being," said City manager Pep Guardiola about Haaland, who had only two goals in his previous seven games before Tuesday.

"It wasn't easy. We scored a goal on the counter-attack," City defender Manuel Akanji said. "The defender slipped early and the efficiency was there (from Haaland). He scored a great goal."

Brentford missed an early opportunity when Frank Onyeka ran onto a pass from Yoane Wissa but shot straight at City's keeper Ederson.

Meanwhile, in the Champions League round of 16 first-leg ties, PSV Eindhoven drew with Dortmund 1-1, and Inter Milan earned a hard-fought 1-0 home victory against Atletico Madrid.

Donyell Malen scored a superb goal against his former side, Dortmund, but a second-half penalty from Luuk de Jong earned a 1-1 draw for PSV Eindhoven, which stretches PSV's unbeaten home run to 31 games in all competitions and leaves the tie evenly poised with the return leg in Dortmund to come on March 13.

In the other fixture, a late goal from substitute Marko Arnautovi, who had replaced an injured Marcus Thuram at halftime, redeemed himself following several missed chances by squeezing the ball home after Lautaro Martinez's shot was saved by goalkeeper Jan Oblak in the 79th minute.

"We know this is only the first leg, the second match will be tough, and certainly there are regrets for the result considering with all that we created, we deserved a wider scoreline. This is football, we keep going," Inter manager Simone Inzaghi said.  

(With input from Reuters)