Phil Foden scored a hat-trick to fire Manchester City into second place in the Premier League standings following their 3-1 win over Brentford.

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 between Brentford’s defence to tip Kevin de Bruyne’s cross past 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 were 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.

Kyle Walker and Maupay got into a heated altercation in the last minutes of the game, and manager Pep Guardiola had to intervene to calm the former down. Guardiola chose not to comment after the game.