The City manager looked close to bringing himself on in the second half as his disgust for the way the game was going kept on growing.
That did not stop after Erling Haaland's 71st-minute strike broke the deadlock with City's 21st shot of the night, but did at least mean he could rage himself to sleep knowing they were above Arsenal and one point off Liverpool.
Brentford are never the easiest of opponents and have the potential to make any game sticky.
So it proved last night when their defending was so good and so deep that while they gave up two-thirds of the pitch it left City with Manu Akanji and Ruben Dias as their main playmakers as everyone else was squeezed up the pitch.
That brought a few decent shots to test Mark Flekken, yet every minute the ball was kept away from City's creative players was a victory for the visitors.
As the first half ticked on and Brentford offered more threat on the rare times they could counter than City did dominating possession, frustration grew.
Keep calm and carry on was Pep Guardiola's message to the media ahead of the game as he baulked at the suggestion of a City setback dropping points at home to Chelsea.
And that was his message to fans as he made a point of deliberately telling the crowd to chill out when they reacted impatiently to Ederson holding on to the ball.
Their reaction was instinctive enough, agitating for the team to get going in game that Brentford were doing their best to drag to a traffic jam on the edge of their box.
This story is from the February 21, 2024 edition of Manchester Evening News.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the February 21, 2024 edition of Manchester Evening News.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Ten Hag wants a £200k 'privacy wall' at Carrington
ERIK ten Hag has reportedly requested a privacy wall to be built at United's training ground, costing the club £200,000.
"There is no reason to expect any sort of statement after Sir Jim's meeting'
UNITED are yet to clarify Erik ten Hag's future following their executive meeting in London on Tuesday.
ETH says Ugarte needs time but it's hard to develop if he's not playing...
ERIK ten Hag's decision to drop the two central defenders he had worked with previously and pushed to be reunited with at Old Trafford attracted plenty of attention this week, but it wasn't his only surprising selection call.
BEV'S LOOKING TO GO CRAZY!
BEVAN French admits it will be 'a crazy feeling' if he can light up Saturday's Grand Final with another of his freakish tries.
HAALAND ON 'GABGATE' 'What happens on the pitch stays on the pitch'
STRIKER HAS ‘NO REGRETS' OVER THROWING BALL AT GAB
Root: Plenty of runs still to get
JOE Root insists there are 'many more runs left to get' overhauling Sir Alastair Cook to become England's record Test run-scorer.
'Local Retail Champions make our communities better places to live'
LOTTERY OPERATOR ‘EXCITED' TO RECOGNISE RETAILERS, SAYS ALLWYN CEO ANDRIA VIDLER
Badenoch or Jenrick to lead Conservatives
ROBERT Jenrick and Kemi Badenoch will go head-to-head in the final heat of the Conservative Party leadership contest, after James Cleverly was knocked out in the latest round of voting.
Letby told colleague of 'distress'
CHILD serial killer nurse Lucy Letby told a colleague more than a year before her arrest she was worried she had \"maybe done something wrong\" to babies, an inquiry has heard.
Idris acts to give youth a chance
IDRIS Elba has partnered with The Prince's Trust to launch a new project that aims to give a 'chance' to the young people of Manchester.