Brentford, on Saturday, defeated Manchester City 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium in the club’s final match ahead of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Ivan Toney scored twice for Brentford while Phil Foden got a goal for City.

The Brentford captain delivered the perfect response to missing out on Gareth Southgate’s 26-man England squad for Qatar to stun the reigning champions and leave Arsenal top of the league at Christmas.

Foden struck a wonderful volley in first-half injury time to level for the hosts, after Toney had deservedly headed in the opener in the 16th minute.

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City, who missed the chance to move top of the Premier League, were frustrated by a mixture of poor finishing, wasteful passing and resilient Brentford defending before Toney capped a statement performance by sensationally tapping in a 97th-minute winner.

The hosts were denied a penalty when the VAR ruled Rico Henry had handled the ball just outside the area before another decision was dismissed when Kevin De Bruyne went down under a challenge from the left-back.

Speaking after the game, Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola, said: “The best team won, we struggled from the beginning and we couldn’t deal with their long balls. Usually, you press the balls to win it but this was different. They defended so deep and so well.

“We didn’t have the dynamic today because we were dictated by long balls that we were losing. The game was so difficult, it was so tight. They did really well in the plan they had and were better.

“We have done exceptionally in the Champions League and well in the Premier League. We’ll come back and prepare for the second half of the season now.”

The Star