Ivan Toney responded to his England World Cup rejection with a superb brace against champions Manchester City.
The Brentford striker scored his second of the game in the eighth minute of stoppage time to ensure a shock 2-1 away win for the Bees.
The Brentford striker opened the scoring at the Etihad, less than 24 hours after learning he wouldn’t be travelling to Qatar, and then bagged the match-winner.
Toney, 26, had been included in Gareth Southgate’s penultimate squad before the winter tournament, and would have had high hopes of appearing at his first World Cup.
However, it wasn’t to be, with the likes of James Maddison, Marcus Rashford and Callum Wilson filling the remaining attacking options in Southgate’s squad.
That may have been extra motivation against City, with the Bees getting off to a flying start away from home before Toney rewarded them by nodding in Ben Mee’s headed pass.
Thomas Frank’s side aimed to hold onto their lead and first-half dominance, but it wasn’t to be with England’s Foden bagging an absolute stunner just before the break.
The second half was interrupted by a ten-minute delay for a bloodied Aymeric Laporte, but the Spain international managed to stay on the pitch and cut out a pass for Toney that looked destined for the back of the net.
Brentford staged a glorious counter-attack from a corner, with Yoane Wissa and Josh Dasilva making things easy for the No.17.
“Ivan Toney may well have missed out on a place on the plane to Qatar, but he’s taken off brilliantly here at the Etihad Stadium!” talkSPORT’s Sam Matterface said.
“He runs over the the near corner with his fingers in his ears as if to say, ‘Stop the noise, stop talking about me, I do my talking on the pitch’.
“Well, he has – that’s his eighth goal in ten games.”
