Brentford may be tempted to come away from this first-ever visit to the Etihad wondering what might have been had two mistakes not punctured what was otherwise a solid and respectable showing against the closest thing that the Premier League has to an unstoppable force.
Neither of Manchester City’s goals would have come about were it not for Mads Roerslev’s clumsy concession of a penalty and a wayward pass by goalkeeper David Raya, after all. The thing with Pep Guardiola’s side, however, is you cannot expect that any inch gained will not be ruthlessly exploited and even then, they will usually find a way to beat you.
This return to winning ways in the Premier League after that draw at St Mary’s last month saw the league leaders move 12 points clear at the top of the table ahead of Liverpool’s meeting with Leicester City at Anfield on Thursday night, having played twice more than their closest challengers.
There is still a title race, just about, though the relentless pace with which the defending champions have managed these past three-and-a-half months suggests that they will not be carelessly giving up ground any time soon.
This was City’s 14th win in their last 15 league games or to put it another way, they have taken 43 points of a possible 45. Brentford, by contrast, may be starting to look over their shoulder. After a formidable start to life in the top flight, seven defeats in eight leaves them within six points of the relegation zone.
If Brentford’s chances of an unlikely result had appeared slim before the team sheets were passed around, the absence of Ivan Toney due to a minor calf injury only lengthened those odds further.
Meanwhile, the most notable absence from City’s starting line-up was that of Jack Grealish, though the £100m signing was among the substitutes due to rotation rather than being pictured outside the Albert’s Schloss beer hall in the centre of Manchester on Sunday night.
“Everybody has to be involved, some more than others,” was Guardiola’s explanation for the decision. “They have to play good to play more than I think,” he added.
Despite that subtle reminder of their responsibilities, City were far from their sparkling best during the opening exchanges. When the half-hour mark passed, Brentford’s organised structure out of possession had limited the league leaders to just two shots, neither of them coming from particularly clear chances, both off target too.
While Guardiola began to grow agitated, straying every so often out of his technical area, his players gradually began to build momentum. Sterling went closest before the breakthrough with an acrobatic bicycle kick that cleared the crossbar, then won the penalty which Riyad Mahrez would convert.
Mads Roerslev’s sliding challenge was not so mistimed as to clear Sterling off his feet, merely clipping him toe-to-toe as he dashed toward the byline, but it was clumsy enough to warrant referee Darren England’s whistle.
Mahrez missed a penalty in Algeria’s elimination to the Ivory Coast at the Africa Cup of Nations but converted his second since returning for eight goals in his last seven appearances, including four from the spot.
Brentford could have quickly responded when John Stones, starting as a right-back, slipped to allow the impressive Rico Henry to exchange one-two and sweep into the penalty area, though his shot was too close to Ederson.
That would be their last meaningful opportunity to salvage anything from this game but, again, they could only really blame themselves for falling further behind.
Raya, making his first league appearance since suffering a serious knee injury in October, gifted City their second by ending a high-stakes round of playing out the back by passing straight into the feet of Sterling.
The Brentford goalkeeper believed he had made amends by parrying the initial effort, but only sent the ball into the path of De Bruyne, who arced a shot into the half of the goal that was still left unguarded. It would be one of the only mistakes that Thomas Frank’s side would make all evening, but against City, such mistakes are invariably punished.
