ERLING HAALAND is officially in the form of his life.And that is why only a fool would write Manchester City off from the title race this season.AFPErling Haaland’s goal was the deciding factor as City beat Brentford[/caption]GettyIt was the Norwegian’s ninth goal of the season[/caption]Super-striker Haaland scored for the NINTH consecutive game for club and country with his early matchwinner here.There are few things the Norwegian has not already achieved in goalscoring but that had been one of them – until now.Before yesterday, the best Haaland had achieved was eight, twice.The last time came in 2022 for City and Norway, between August and September.And the other happened in a similar time period 12 months before for Borussia Dortmund and his Scandinavian nation.Haaland’s devastating ninth-minute blow oozed confidence as he wrestled off his marker and hammered the ball past Caoimhin Kelleher.He looked like a man on a mission, wound up by the way City threw away his double in Monaco in midweek and determined not to let it slip here.There were moments in the second half when that looked a possibility but ultimately City got the job done to move within three points of Arsenal.It was Pep Guardiola’s 250th Premier League win and though his side look utterly dependent on Haaland, when you have a centre-forward that good, who cares?CASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITSIf he stays fit, Haaland is so lethal in front of goal that it could genuinely take City all the way in the league this year.One City supporter showed their appreciation for the No9 at full-time by planting a smacker on Haaland’s cheek after he had gone over to thank the away fans. The away fans were appreciative of the Norwegian’s efforts after the final whistleCity were utterly dominant in the first half and really should have been two or three goals up at the break.As it was, it was only one – that early, bludgeoned Haaland effort – which was the only positive for Brentford come the half-time whistle.Boss Keith Andrews prefers players to call him by his first name rather than ‘gaffer’.He may well have been calling his team all sorts at the interval given how far short they were of City’s quality.Tijjani Reijnders seemed to dribble through the entire backline inside six minutes but, luckily for the hosts, could not apply the finish.The same cannot be said for red-hot Haaland three minutes later though, as he latched onto Josko Gvardiol’s ball up top.GettyHaaland’s celebrations took him into the away end[/caption]Haaland shrugged off Sepp van den Berg like he was a 6ft4ins rag doll to get in behind the defence.Then when fellow Bees centre-back Nathan Collins bemusingly did not come across to intervene, Haaland pulverised the ball past Kelleher and into the back of the net.It was the ninth consecutive game the Norwegian machine has netted in, and in fact he has only blanked in one fixture so far this term.The 25-year-old superstar has had more purple patches than Willy Wonka’s coat throughout his prolific career.But surely there have been few spells where he has felt in sharper nick than the one he is in right now.Remarkably, Haaland’s strike was City’s first Premier League goal away to Brentford to be scored by anyone other than Phil Foden.The playmaker, once again snubbed by Thomas Tuchel for this month’s England squad, had netted all six of City’s goals in their previous four trips to the Gtech.Foden really should have added more to that tally here with a series of decent chances.The best of those came when the tricky Oscar Bobb laid it back to the Three Lions man but he skewed his shot well wide of the target.By then, Pep Guardiola’s side had suffered a devastating blow that would have depressed every genuine football fan out there.Rodri, still feeling his way back from that anterior cruciate ligament injury, was suddenly down on the turf feeling what looked to be his hamstring.The 2024 Ballon d’Or winner looked crestfallen as he was forced off in the 22nd minute and replaced by Nico Gonzalez.GettyRodri was unable to continue after picking up an injury[/caption]It was the second time in Rodri’s last five Premier League starts that he had been substituted in the first half.The last one being that hammer blow against Arsenal in September last year, which prompted a 343-day wait for his next league start.Brentford had Kelleher to thank for keeping it at 1-0 when he superbly parried away Reijnders’ thunderous volley from Nico O’Reilly’s cross.Andrews’ side could only improve after the break – and they did.Striker Igor Thiago thought he had wasted a golden early opportunity when failing to beat Gianluigi Donnarumma after racing through on goal.But ref Darren England spared the big Brazilian’s blushes by pulling the move back for a soft foul when Thiago had challenged Gvardiol in the air.It was a statement of Brentford’s intent not to let their talented guests have it all their own way, though.Suddenly they were in City’s faces, the home support grew louder and their team was carving out chances such as when Michael Kayode headed over.Haaland was getting frustrated and showed it with an unnecessarily powerful bounce of the ball which drew an oooh from the crowd after Jordan Henderson had been booked for catching Foden from behind.But ultimately City successfully managed to see out the game for a vital three points that puts them right back into the mix.