City eight points clear of Chelsea after beating spirited Bees
Phil Foden’s first-half goal clinched victory for Manchester City over a spirited Brentford side at the Community Stadium.
City, who had a late header from Aymeric Laporte chalked off for the narrowest of offsides by VAR, opened up an eight-point lead at the top of the Premier League with the win, but the Bees can take heart from their performance with several players sidelined through injury and suspension.
The hosts started well, with Frank Onyeka wasting a decent chance when he shot straight at Ederson when put through, with the Brazilian keeper then moments later clawing away a goal-bound Ruben Dias deflection that almost crept into the net.
Ivan Toney should have given Brentford the lead after 15 minutes with a close-range glancing header but Bernado Silva stooped low to nod it off the line.
To compound the disappointment of that near miss for Thomas Frank’s side, the champions immediately went up the other end and opened the scoring when Foden calmly side-footed Kevin De Bruyne’s cross past Alvaro Fernandez.
England midfielder Foden then had a header disallowed for offside early in the second half and De Bruyne hit the post with low effort.
Although the Bees created very little goalscoring opportunities after half-time, they battled hard to keep a star-studded City side at bay, with Toney ruffling plenty of City feathers with his abrasive style.
Brentford: Fernandez, Thompson (Ghoddos 82), Pinnock, Sorensen, Jansson, Baptiste, Wissa (Canos 69), Jensen, Onyeka (Bidstrup 75), Roerslev, Toney.
Subs not used: Cox, Forss, , Peart-Harris, Stevens.
