Man City lose chance to go top of league; Arsenal beat Wolves to extend Premier League lead

LONDON: Brentford striker Ivan Toney struck twice to give his side a shock 2-1 victory over champions Manchester City on Saturday in their final Premier League game before the World Cup break.

Toney who was left out of England's squad for Qatar, made the most of a bright start by Brentford, breaking the deadlock in the 16th minute when Ben Mee headed back across the box and Toney sent a looping header over Ederson and into the net.

City had a strong shout for a penalty for a handball turned down before they equalized on the stroke of halftime when Kevin De Bruyne's corner was flicked on and Phil Foden drilled home a superb half-volley for his eighth league goal of the season.

There was a lengthy stoppage just after the break when Aymeric Laporte, who has been named in Spain's World Cup squad, received treatment after an inadvertent elbow from Ethan Pinnock opened a gash on his forehead.

City racked up 29 goalscoring opportunities but only managed six on target as Brentford's defence suffocated their attack and restricted striker Erling Haaland, the only City starter not headed to Qatar, to a couple of half-chances.

That set the stage for Toney's winner as Brentford broke forward deep into second-half stoppage time, and the 26-year-old made no mistake as he fired home to secure a stunning victory.

Arsenal brushed aside bottom club Wolverhampton Wanders 2-0 with both goals from captain Martin Odegaard to take a five-point lead at the top of the Premier League going into a mid-season break for the World Cup.

The Norwegian midfielder, one of the revelations of Arsenal's swashbuckling early-season form, slotted his first into a gaping net in the 55th minute after a Fabio Vieira cross at the end of a typically clever passing by the visitors.

Odegaard bagged his second off a rebound 20 minutes later.

The result left Arsenal first in the Premier League on 37 points, five ahead of Manchester City.

Morgan Gibbs-White grabbed the only goal as Nottingham Forest beat Crystal Palace 1-0 at the City Ground on Saturday to ensure that they won't spend Christmas at the bottom of the Premier League.

Forest's third victory of the season in their final game before the World Cup break lifted them off the bottom of the standings to 18th place on 13 points, one ahead of Southampton.

Rodrigo Bentancur's late double secured a thrilling 4-3 victory for Tottenham Hotspur over Leeds United, the hosts coming from behind three times.

Victory lifted Tottenham into third place with 29 points from 15 games with Leeds on 15 points in 14th place.

Bournemouth thumped Everton for the second time this week as goals from Marcus Tavernier, Kieffer Moore and substitute Jaidon Anthony gave them a 3-0 win at the Vitality Stadium.

Leicester City beat West Ham United 2-0 with goals from James Maddison and Harvey Barnes to complete a hat-trick of away wins in the Premier League and move up to 12th in the standings going into the mid-season break. Liverpool's South American strikers Darwin Nunez and Roberto Firmino propelled the team to a 3-1 home win over Southampton.

The victory took Liverpool into sixth place in the league standings on 22 points after 14 matches. Agencies

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