Manchester City beat Brentford 1-0 on Wednesday to extend its lead at the top of the Premier League to an ominous eight points as title rival Chelsea conceded a last-gasp equaliser at home to Brighton.
Phil Foden’s first-half goal was enough to give Pep Guardiola’s team a 10th consecutive league win as it took full advantage of injury-hit Chelsea’s slip-up at Stamford Bridge. The defending champion now has 50 points after 20 matches, putting it eight clear of second-placed Chelsea. Liverpool, which lost to Leicester on Tuesday, is a further point behind.
Brentford created some good scoring opportunities in the opening stages in west London, but it was City which went ahead in the 16th minute when Foden cleverly tucked in a cross from Kevin De Bruyne.
The visitors dominated possession but struggled to produce shots on target and Guardiola looked edgy in the latter stages as his team attempted to see out the victory.
Off side
It thought they had sealed the three points in the dying minutes when Aymeric Laporte rose to head home but his goal was ruled out by VAR for a marginal offside.
Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea, which kicked off 45 minutes before City, looked poised for victory after Romelu Lukaku gave it a first-half lead but substitute Danny Welbeck struck in stoppage time for a 1-1 draw.
It looked as though it was going to be a familiar story for Brighton, which has struggled to score this season, but substitute Welbeck had other ideas, heading home Marc Cucurella’s cross in the 91st minute.
City travels to face fourth-placed Arsenal on Saturday knowing a win would take it 11 points clear of Chelsea, which hosts Liverpool the following day.
The results: Brentford 0 lost to Manchester City 1 (Foden 16); Chelsea 1 (Lukaku 28) drew with Brighton 1 (Welbeck 90+1).
