Ake backer
The sight of Nathan Ake’s name on the teamsheet elicited a few groans from Manchester City fans before the game.
The centre-back was not only being asked to play out of position, he has also shown in previous left-back appearances that he offers none of the creative, forward-thinking football you get from Joao Cancelo or Aleks Zinchenko in the role.
But when Brentford started banking on set-pieces to unsettle City, after Guardiola had said they are the best team in the Premier League from corners and free kicks, the reason for Ake’s inclusion became clear.
It was not just respect for Brentford’s strength, but also for the fact this was always likely to be a scrappy, tight affair.
Dinho teeter
With Rodri still out, Fernandinho was asked to play a second game in just over 72 hours, and there is a question mark as to how he can handle that kind of schedule these days, at the age of 36, and especially against livewire, aggressive opponents like Leicester and Brentford.
He trod the dividing line between legality and a red card well, getting away with a nibble at Ivan Toney and then getting a bit back.
He is still the master at disrupting play and dictating the rhythm of the game.
Turf wars
There was a suggestion that Brentford had allowed the grass to grow a little longer than usual for this game, to try to hold up City’s slick passing game.
Nothing wrong with that, of course, when you’re seeking levellers against a much better team - although you suspect Jurgen Klopp might have gone into a full-blown whinge about it.
City found the perfect response, Kevin De Bruyne whipping a pass off the deck and Phil Foden meeting it on the volley. No grass, no problem.
Ten smooth
Victory at Brentford made it ten wins on the bounce for the Blues, only the fourth time they have strung together a run like that - and they have won the title on the other occasions they have done so.
That will mean little to the players at this stage, but picking up three points in this game, 24 hours after Liverpool lost at Leicester and 45 minutes after Chelsea conceded a late goal to drop two points at home to Brighton, felt like a significant moment.
Midfield muzzled
Apart from a couple of moments of pure class from Kevin De Bruyne, one of which brought Phil Foden's goal, the much-vaunted City midfield was fairly quiet, for once.
Bernardo Silva buzzed a bit, without his usual manic display, while Fernandinho was on cruise control as he again filled in for the influential Rodri.
Maybe it was a case of just doing enough, and saving the tank for Arsenal on Saturday, or maybe the Bees' pitch shenanigans really did have an effect. But this was always going to be about the result rather than performance.
