Manchester City strengthen grip on Premier League title by taking 8-point lead

Manchester, December 30

Manchester City’s grip on their Premier League title hasn’t been this strong all season. A 1-0 win at Brentford on Wednesday, coupled with Chelsea conceding a stoppage-time goal to draw 1-1 against Brighton, left the defending champions with an eight-point lead heading into the new year.

It has been an almost perfect 24 hours for City, which saw Liverpool — another rival for the title — surprisingly lose 1-0 at injury-hit Leicester on Tuesday. Chelsea have moved a point ahead of third-placed Liverpool before their meeting at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, when at least one of the teams will drop points.

Liverpool have a game in hand, but will soon lose star forwards Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane to the African Cup of Nations.

City weren’t at their fluent best against Brentford — Pep Guardiola’s team came into the match having scored 17 goals in their last three matches — but still did enough to earn a 10th straight win in the league.

“I am not going to believe you when you say it is already done,” Guardiola said. “There are 54 points still to play for.”

Yet City are even winning when not playing their best. Phil Foden grabbed the only goal in the 16th minute, diverting a cross from Kevin de Bruyne into the net from close range. — AP