Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola, has admitted the best team won, after they lost 2-1 to Brentford.
Ivan Toney put his England snub behind him by scoring twice, including an injury-time winner.
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.
“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.”