The foundations around Man City crumbled again as Christian Norgaard's late header ended their revival as the Premier League champions threw away a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 at Brentford.
Pep Guardiola's side had taken the lead 2-0 with less than ten minutes to go before Brentford fought back.
City had shown glimpses of their old selves when captain Kevin De Bruyne put in a captain's performance, culminating in a typically perfect cross for Phil Foden's close-range opener, before their late collapse once again showed how far they have fallen this season .
They appeared to have repelled Brentford's threat when Foden scored another from inside the six-yard box to continue his own personal revival 12 minutes after his first – and Savinho's effort did not hit a post and Erling Haaland did not aim straight at Mark Flokken . , maybe they did.
But their defensive vulnerability, which saw them make deals for Lens' Abdukodir Khusanov and Palmeiras' Vitor Reis, soon came to the fore again, allowing Brentford to get back into the game.
Eight minutes from time, Nathan Ake missed his header and cleared Mads Roerslev's cross, allowing it to reach Yoane Wissa, who cleverly turned to score his eleventh Premier League goal of the season.
A repeat of the feat was to follow as Brentford went ahead in extra time as Norgaard beat Manuel Akanji in Keane Lewis-Potter's feat, lifting the roof of the Gtech Community Stadium to become last season's Premier League champions once again left with a bloody nose.
Guardiola: We don't have any players in our own field to defend the lead
Manchester City head coach Pep Guardiola:
“What I missed today was that we didn't make the right decisions in the final third, while the actions were that we could run. We won long balls and could run with them, but we didn't make the right decisions.
“I like the way Brentford are playing. Today we have created a lot and we have been here many times and they have had more chances than us.
“At 2-0 we had to close it, but we don't have a specific player to defend a result in the penalty area. We have to do it with the ball, create and control in the final third.”
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