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Phil Foden's first-half goal proved the difference as Manchester City beat a spirited Brentford 1-0 to strengthen their title claims.
Brentford started brightly and Joao Cancelo was forced to clear an effort off the line before Ivan Toney could follow up.
On 16 minutes Foden put City ahead when he converted a brilliant cross from Kevin De Bruyne.
The Belgian almost added his name to the scoresheet on 66 minutes, but his low shot came back off a post.
Aymeric Laporte thought his late header had doubled City's advantage, but his effort was overturned as he had strayed into an offside position.
City's 10th consecutive league victory extended their lead at the top to eight points.
Brentford lie 14th with 20 points.
See: Brentford report | Man City report
Next fixtures
Brentford: 2 Jan v Aston Villa (H)
Man City: 1 Jan v Arsenal (A)
Match officials
Referee: David Coote. Assistants: Stuart Burt, Nick Hopton. Fourth official: Craig Pawson. VAR: Jarred Gillett. Assistant VAR: Neil Davies.
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