Manuel Akanji was satisfied with Manchester City's response to dropping points last weekend after they beat Brentford in the Premier League.

City were held to a 1-1 draw by Chelsea on Saturday and endured another tough night at the Etihad against a resilient Bees outfit but they found a way to win thanks to Erling Haaland's 17th league goal of the season.

Centre-back Akanji, 28, said: "It wasn't easy. We scored a goal on the counter.

"The defender slipped early and the efficiency was there [from Haaland]. He scored a great goal. 

"We know how hard it is to play against Brentford, with their back five. That's why we tried to attack and we didn't run into too many counter-attacks. 

"I can't remember too many big chances they had. After the weekend, we had to show a reaction and I feel we did that. Now we have to improve game by game."

Haaland, 23, has only recently returned from an injury that saw him miss 12 games across the festive period.

Despite his absence, the Norwegian powerhouse remains the Premier League's top scorer and his lethal instinct was on show against Thomas Frank's visitors.

Akanji added: "I was just thinking, 'Please score'.

"The second chance we had, we failed to finish the game. Unfortunately the keeper made a save but we got the win."

Young midfielder Oscar Bobb — who was standing in for Kevin De Bruyne — also praised his team-mate for making his moment count.

He said: "We were up against a very good team and we had some good chances that usually we would score. 

"He's the best in the world. Erling's only three years older than me but it's crazy to play with one of the greats."