Brentford head coach Keith Andrews didn't hold back his frustration after a controversial penalty decision went against his side in Saturday's 3-0 loss to Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.

Pep Guardiola's title-chasing squad showed their class with goals from Jeremy Doku, Erling Haaland, and Omar Marmoush. But the match could have taken a very different turn if the referee had pointed to the spot when it mattered most.

The pivotal moment came with the score still 1-0. Brentford's Igor Thiago laid the ball off to Kevin Schade inside the box, but Matheus Nunes' challenge was enough to disrupt the attacker's rhythm. Despite a VAR review, no penalty was given—a decision that left Andrews visibly frustrated.

"I think there was a lot going on for the officials," the Irishman told Sky Sports after the match. "I will be the first to tell you what a difficult job they have to do on a day-to-day basis. It's difficult with all the contentious issues and at times the playacting. I thought the Kevin Schade incident was a penalty. So that was really disappointing."

Despite the scoreline, Andrews found plenty of positives in his team's performance against one of the Premier League's elite. "We were playing against a team fighting for the title. You could see that from their urgency. I liked a lot of what we did today. I liked the bravery and courage with our approach."

"It needed to be a near-perfect performance from us to win tonight," he continued. "The margins of some of the chances we had, some of the decisions that were made were quite telling. I'd step back and think I am really proud of what we produced, but ultimately, we lost the game."

The defeat is a tough blow to Brentford's European qualification hopes. But with a crucial clash against Crystal Palace coming up next Sunday, Andrews is confident his squad will bounce back.

"Coming to City and playing against a team fighting hard against Arsenal—it depends on how you look at it," he added. "We came here with an honesty in our approach and a belief that we could get something from this game. We are disappointed we couldn't. I don't think the players will need any lifting. It will naturally happen. We have got a huge game against Crystal Palace coming up."