Leaders Man City go 12 points clear win over Brentford

MANCHESTER, England : Manchester City stretched their lead at the top of the Premier League standings to 12 points after a comfortable 2-0 win over Brentford on Wednesday.

Brentford did a good job of keeping City at bay in the first half, and almost got to the interval without being breached, but conceded a soft penalty in the 40th minute, which Riyad Mahrez converted to give the champions the lead.

City remained untroubled after the break and put the game to bed in the 68th minute, with Kevin De Bruyne firing home after a poor clearance from Brentford goalkeeper David Raya.

The rest of the match was a stroll for City as they stretched their unbeaten run to 14 league games, pulling further clear of second-placed Liverpool, who face Leicester City on Thursday having played two games fewer than the champions.

Brentford's struggles continued after a fifth successive league defeat pulled them closer to the relegation zone. They sit 14th, six points above Norwich City in 18th, having played one game more.

Since losing 2-0 to Crystal Palace in October, City had won their last six Premier League home games by an aggregate score of 20-4 ahead of Brentford's visit – just the opponent Thomas Frank's out-of-form side did not want to be facing.

But other than a Joao Cancelo effort that was scooped over the top and Aymeric Laporte's side-foot wide, Brentford looked comfortable in their quest to blunt the relentless league leaders.

Danish defender Mads Roerslev's needless tackle on Raheem Sterling as he looked to get to the byline, however, undid the visitors' good work, with Mahrez stepping up, despite having missed from the spot at the Africa Cup of Nations last month, and firing home.

Mahrez has now scored in seven consecutive club