Manchester City defeated Brentford 2-0 at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday thanks to goals from Riyad Mahrez and Kevin De Bruyne.
After an uneventful first 30 minutes, City began to grit their teeth, and the deadlock was broken when Mahrez curled home a penalty after Mads Roerslev clumsily sent Raheem Sterling to the ground.
The reigning champions never really got out of second gear, but were gifted another goal when David Raya’s misplaced pass was quickly followed by De Bruyne slotting home.
As a result, City extended their lead over Liverpool to 12 points, despite the fact that Jurgen Klopp’s side is in action against Leicester City on Thursday.
Brentford were tough to break down, but City gradually began to create more openings, with Sterling volleying over and Aymeric Laporte shading the outside of the post after the half-hour mark.
The visitors’ resistance was finally broken when Roerslev felled Sterling and Mahrez dispatched the resulting penalty into the top-left corner.
Brentford tried to threaten on the break but never looked like troubling Ederson with Ivan Toney absent due to a calf injury.
Their hopes of salvaging a draw were effectively extinguished when Raya gave the ball straight to Sterling on the edge of the box.
Although the Brentford keeper managed to block Sterling’s shot, the rebound fell to De Bruyne, who passed the follow-up into the bottom-right corner.
City came under minimal pressure and comfortably saw out the closing stages to get back to winning ways after dropping points at Southampton in their previous Premier League outing.
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What does it mean? Further contrasting fortunes
City completed a league double over Brentford for the first time since 1936-37, the season in which they won their maiden top-flight crown.
Pep Guardiola’s side are now unbeaten in 14 Premier League matches, while the Bees have lost five in a row. The last time they endured a winless streak of that length was in 2007, when they were in League Two.
A Sterling display
Although he may not have taken the chances that came his way, Sterling won the penalty and played a pivotal role in the second goal with his high pressing. He also supplied two key passes and drew five fouls – at least three more than anyone else on the pitch.
No Raya light
He may have made more saves (five) than he has done before in a single Premier League match, but Raya’s woeful distribution ultimately ended Brentford’s chances of snatching what would still have been an unlikely point.
What’s next?
When City take on Norwich City at Carrow Road on Saturday, Brentford will entertain Crystal Palace.
