Reggae Boy Pinnock hands Brentford shock win over Manchester City

LONDON, England (CMC):

Reggae Boy Ethan Pinnock scored a late goal as Brentford ended champions Manchester City's 25-match unbeaten run with a shock 1-0 win on a dramatic final day of the English Premier League yesterday.

With the attritional contest at the Brentford Community Stadium in west London seemingly headed for a 0-0 draw, the 29-year-old centre-back Pinnock beat goalkeeper Ederson with a low volley after being set up by an excellent combination between Kevin Schade and Bryan Mbeumo.

The goal was Pinnock's third of the season and eighth overall during his four-year spell at Brentford, and came on the heels of his signing of a new four-year deal.

"I saw the ball come in over my head, and I saw Bryan going for it," said Pinnock, capped six times by Jamaica.

"I think he was going to try and score, but I screamed at him to head it back to me. I saw a couple of players on the line and slotted it in."

Pinnock's goal ended City's dominant run, the champions tasting defeat for the first time since February, while Brentford notched their third consecutive win to finish strongly.

The game was evenly contested, Brentford goalkeeper David Raya saving from Cole Palmer in the first half, and Ben Mee and Vitaly Janelt coming close to putting the hosts on the scoresheet.

Brentford also had a penalty appeal for a handball against Rico Lewis waved away in the second half before Pinnock's goal decided the game.

The result meant Brentford completed the double over City, following their 2-1 win at the Etihad in November.

"They've been the best team in the world this season," Pinnock said.

"We had our tactics, our game plan, and we stuck to it. On the day, with the crowd behind us, we managed to get the win.

"They've got two world-class players for each position, but we got on the front foot from restarts and from throw-ins. We went man-for-man a lot of the time and did our jobs very well."

Despite the victory, however, Brentford missed out on a berth in the Europa Conference League after finishing ninth on 59 points.

They needed seventh-place Aston Villa (61) and eighth-place Tottenham (60) to drop points. Both won instead, Villa beating Brighton 2-1 at home and Spurs winning 4-1 away to Leeds, who suffered relegation along with Leicester City.