Brentford 0-1 Manchester City: Foden fires league leaders eight points clear

 

Manchester City will end 2021 eight points clear at the top of the Premier League after beating Brentford 1-0 through a Phil Foden strike.

Phil Foden's first-half strike was enough as Manchester City beat Brentford 1-0 to extend their winning Premier League run to 10 matches and move eight points clear at the top.

The Citizens had scored 17 goals in their previous three league games but were made to work hard at the Brentford Community Stadium in their final game of 2021.

Kevin De Bruyne played in a teasing delivery for Foden to drill in the game's only goal after 16 minutes, with that match-winning moment arriving 56 seconds after Yoane Wissa had a header cleared off the line at the other end.

City had a couple of goals disallowed in the second half but moved further clear at the summit following Liverpool's loss to Leicester City on Tuesday and Chelsea's home draw with Brighton and Hove Albion in Wednesday's other fixture.

Brentford, without a number of key players due to coronavirus, suspension and injuries, forced Ederson into a couple of saves and had a looping Wissa header blocked on the line by Joao Cancelo in a lively start.

Wissa's chance served as a wake-up call for City, though, and they were in front less than a minute later thanks to Foden's side-foot finish from a pinpoint De Bruyne cross, the goal allowed to stand following a VAR check for a possible offside.

Foden did not time his run to such perfection when he tucked home in early in the second half, however, with a close-range finish ruled out for offside.

De Bruyne pinged the woodwork with a crisp, low effort, though City thought they had put the result beyond all doubt when Aymeric Laporte headed in late on.

VAR cut their celebrations short, but unlike their title rivals, City were not made to lament any fine margins.

What does it mean? City in command

City may not have been at their free-scoring best but did enough to take full advantage of slip-ups from Chelsea and Liverpool, who are eight and nine points adrift respectively – albeit with the latter having a game in hand – ahead of their meeting at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

Pep Guardiola's side ended with an expected goals (xG) return of 1.04 compared to 0.26 for Brentford in the first top-flight meeting between the sides since 1937-38, scoring from one of just three attempts on target.

De Bruyne lives up to billing

Guardiola described De Bruyne as "exceptional" and "unique" ahead of this game and the playmaker's return to top form continued with a fine assist for Foden's well-taken strike, which brought up City’s 113th top-flight goal in 2021 (only four sides in English top-flight history have scored more, a list still topped by Aston Villa with 120 goals in 1931.)

De Bruyne has provided 78 assists since his Premier League debut for City in September 2015, which is at least 27 more than any other player during that period.

Jesus fires another blank

Brazil international Jesus has more than played his part in City's superb first half to the campaign, but he has now gone 10 Premier League matches without finding the back of the net.

His 10 touches in the opposition box was double that of any player on the field, suggesting he got into some promising positions, but he only tested Alvaro Fernandez once and that was in added time at the end of the game.

Key Opta Facts

- All five previous sides to be eight or more points ahead at the end of New Year's Eve in the Premier League went on to win the title (Manchester United in 1993-94 and 2000-01, Chelsea in 2005-06, City in 2017-18 and Liverpool in 2019-20). - City have won each of their last 10 Premier League games – the fourth time they have had a run of 10+ consecutive league wins under Guardiola. No other manager in Premier League history has had more than two separate runs of 10+ wins. - Brentford have lost five home Premier League games this season; only fellow promoted clubs Norwich City (seven) and Watford (six) have suffered more defeats on home soil in the 2021-22 competition. - City have won 20 of their last 23 away Premier League outings (D1 L2), including each of their last six in a row. Indeed, the Citizens have now earned more points away from home than any other side in this season’s Premier League (25). - Foden scored his 20th Premier League goal for City, 12 of which have come away from home (60 per cent).

What's next?

City begin 2022 with a trip to in-form Arsenal on Saturday, though Mikel Arteta will not be on the sideline to face his former team after testing positive for COVID-19, while Brentford host Aston Villa the following day.