LONDON -- Even when Manchester City fail to hit the heights we have come to expect of Pep Guardiola's team, they still end up basking on the sunny side of the street. The Premier League champions laboured to a 1-0 win at Brentford on Wednesday, yet they ended the day having stretched their lead at the top of table and with the seal set on a record-breaking calendar year.
Liverpool's defeat at Leicester City on Tuesday had already given Man City an unexpected boost ahead of their first top-flight visit to Brentford since 1937, but Danny Welbeck's stoppage-time equaliser for Brighton & Hove Albion against Chelsea -- while this game was still in play -- enabled Guardiola's side to move eight points clear at the top of the table in their final game of 2021.