With a solid win at Brentford thanks to a hat-trick from Phil Foden, Manchester City moved menacingly into second place in the Premier League, two points behind leaders Liverpool.
Neal Maupay's breakaway goal gave the home team the lead in the 21st minute, but Mark Flekken of the Bees had to pull off a series of incredible stops to hold off the reigning champs until Foden scored in stoppage time in the first half.
After stealing in behind Brentford's defense to tip Kevin de Bruyne's cross beyond the exposed Flekken eight minutes after his first goal, Foden's second gave City the extra momentum they needed.
Even though they were outmatched, Brentford had a few chances to draw even, most notably when Ivan Toney volleyed over from close range. However, City was far too strong and sealed the victory 20 minutes from the end when Foden received Erling Haaland's pass and steered the ball past Flekken.
City shifting into action
Even though it took until the very end of the first half for Manchester City to overcome the excellent Flekken, it was only fair because they had been constantly putting shots in the Brentford goal before they finally made the breakthrough.
After scoring three goals in the 6-3 derby victory against Manchester United in October 2022, Foden scored his second senior hat-trick of his career to take up the goal-scoring duties while Haaland was still recovering from a foot ailment and not quite his normal lethal self.
This was a worrying performance from City as they not only edged closer to the top spot but also saw world-class players Haaland and De Bruyne start a match together for the first time since the league season's opening night against Burnley back in August.
This is usually when City is at their best of the year, and the numbers are beginning to point to yet another surge. This is their eighth straight victory since defeating Fluminense to win the Club World Cup in late December.
With a victory over Everton at Etihad Stadium on Saturday lunchtime, City can take the lead as their influence in the Premier League title battle begins to get even more noticeable.