MANCHESTER, England -- Manchester City need help if they're going to win the Premier League title, but by beating Brentford, they at least put themselves in position to accept it if it's offered.
More dropped points at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday -- five days after slipping up at Everton -- would have allowed Arsenal to put one hand on the trophy. City, though, aren't going away just yet.
Pep Guardiola's team overcame some run-in nerves to win 3-0 thanks to three second-half goals and close the gap at the top to two points. They need a favor from West Ham United, who play Arsenal at the London Stadium on Sunday.
If the second 45 minutes against Brentford had been as frustrating as the first, though, that game would have been fairly meaningless. Instead, Guardiola and his players can keep a close eye on events in east London in the hope that there might be one last twist in this absorbing title race.
"We are fighting with a team in the final of the Champions League without losing a game and have been top of the league almost all season," Guardiola said. "It's not in our hands now so it depends on them dropping points.
"All we can do is Wednesday [against Crystal Palace] win again, play the final of the FA Cup and go to Bournemouth -- I'd say that is not the best one to go -- and Aston Villa, so the calendar is demanding, but it's simple. It's just two weeks and the season will be over. I love it. I love to be here again [in the title race]."
That City are in this position at all owes plenty to Jérémy Doku.
The Belgium international recently gave an interview in which he said he needs to score more goals if he's to be considered one of the best wingers in the world. He's made a good start.
Since the start of April, the 23-year-old has scored against Chelsea, got the assist in a 1-0 win over Burnley, scored the equalizer in the FA Cup semifinal against Southampton, got two more in the 3-3 draw with Everton and found the breakthrough against Brentford.
His goal here in the 60th minute was almost a carbon copy of his 97th-minute equalizer at Hill Dickinson Stadium on Monday. Cut in from the left, right foot, top corner.
Defenders know it's coming, but it's so difficult to stop.
"He always had this ability when he has the ball to drop the team with dribbles, but he missed the last pass or goals. This season he made a step forward," Guardiola said. "You want to become a better player, you have to win games for yourself. It's not enough to make good crosses for the other ones, you have to win games and score goals.
"He made an incredible step in that sense to say, 'I'm Jérémy Doku, I'm going to win games.' The big players always have that mentality."
After Doku had found the crucial opener, Erling Haaland scored his 50th goal for club and country this season with an improvised back-heeled finish. It was only then that the City fans inside the Etihad could breathe a sigh of relief.
It came five minutes after Matheus Nunes had survived a VAR check for an apparent push on Kevin Schade when he had only Gianluigi Donnarumma to beat.
The Brentford protests were waved away by referee Michael Salisbury as Keith Andrews berated fourth official Robert Jones on the touchline. It was a big moment that went City's way.
"In what world does [Schade] go down without contact is beyond me," Andrews said. "That's the one I'm struggling to comprehend.
"The comment [from the referee] I heard was not enough contact. For someone who is as quick as Kevin Schade, I don't know how much contact it needs. Not with how quick Kev is. It's disappointing."
Brentford are still fighting for a place in Europe, while for City, it's all eyes on West Ham.
City dropped points there in March and Guardiola will hope that Nuno Espírito Santo can inspire a similar performance against Arsenal. West Ham will kick off in the relegation places and need a result.
There are still two weeks left of the season, but the reality is that it all comes down to this.
After West Ham, Arsenal face already-relegated Burnley and then Crystal Palace, who have the distraction of the UEFA Conference League final against Rayo Vallecano four days later.
Guardiola is in little doubt about which team can reopen the door. After discussing Brentford, Doku and Haaland, he ended his postmatch news conference by crossing his arms to mimic a gesture used by West Ham fans and saying "come on you Irons" while wearing the mischievous smile of a man who knew exactly what he was doing.
City did their bit against Brentford. Now they need a helping hand from West Ham.