Manchester City 2, Fulham 1
10-man Manchester City beat Fulham with an injury time Erling Haaland penalty after playing for an hour with ten men after Joao Cancelo was sent off.
Julian Alvarez had given City the lead before Andreas Pereira equalised from the penalty spot after 28 minutes after Cancelo was dismissed for bringing down Harry Wilson in the box.
John Stones had a goal ruled out for offside and substitute Erling Haaland thought he scored with 15 minutes to go but a VAR confirmed that he was offside before the Norwegian had the last word from the penalty spot after Kevin De Bruyne was brought down by Antonee Robinson deep into injury time.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe celebrations carried on after the game as Haaland’s post match parade around the Etihad was shared by jubilant fans and team mates as City celebrated a last gasp return to the Premier League summit.
Neither Haaland nor Aleksandar Mitrovic had started for their respective sides as both strikers were managing injuries.
Phil Foden joined the big Norwegian and Champions League debut goalscorer Rico Lewis on the bench as Pep Guardiola rotated his side again with the World Cup looming.
City made eight changes from the side that faced Sevilla on Wednesday, only Julian Alvarez, Jack Grealish, and Ilkay Gundogan stayed in the side that beat the Spanish strugglers.
Ex Manchester United winger Andreas Pereira started for Fulham while on the bench for the Cottagers was former City player Tosin Adarabioyo and another ex-United winger Daniel James.
Bernardo Silva had a curling ball into the box tipped away by Bernd Leno before before Alvarez miscontrolled a header from a ball back into the danger zone served up by Kevin De Bruyne in the opening minutes.
De Bruyne hammered in a long range shot which was pushed away by Leno after 9 minutes as City turned up the pressure.
And the in-form Belgian laid on a long range chance for Gundogan whose shot went wide of the back post.
The German was also warmed up and his sumptuous through ball found Julian Alvarez on the run towards the goal – the Argentine powered the ball into the roof of the net off the underside of the crossbar from 12 yards out with 16 minutes on the clock – his 6th goal of the season.
Joao Cancelo sent off for poor challenge on Harry Wilson
John Stones was clearly offside as he scored from the rebound after Rodri’s header from a free kick was saved but Fulham went up the other end and won a penalty when Harry Wilson was barged over by Joao Cancelo as he bore down on goal.
Andreas Pereira stepped up and sent Ederson the wrong way from the penalty spot to level things up after 28 minutes as City boss Pep Guardiola had harsh words for Cancelo after he walked off.
Rodri dropped into central defence with Nathan Ake switching to left back as City reorganised against a more confident Fulham side who were serenaded by their fans for every completed pass.
De Bruyne was deeper than usual but he still managed to find Alvarez who won a corner with a shot parried by Leno.
Late in the first half, City found their rhythm again and Jack Grealish sent a shot wide of the far post and he saw a deflected shot go behind for a corner.
City briefly lost their cool in injury time when Bernardo Silva was booked for complaining to the assistant referee on the sidelines.
Silva started the second half plugging gaps in the base of the City midfield while Erling Haaland was cheered as he came out to warm up as the second half started as Fulham probed the undermanned City defence for weaknesses.
Ake headed straight into the arms of Leno as De Bruyne sent in a deep cross in.
Erling Haaland is called for and he proves to be the difference maker against Fulham with penalty
Harry Wilson drove a shot wide as Fulham tried to make overloads down City’s left side but Pep Guardiola had seen enough and decided to being Haaland on along with Foden. Grealish and Alvarez were the players to make way.
City were lifted and De Bruyne sent a ball wide while Kenny Tete tried his luck from 30 yards with Ederson easily stopping it.
Haaland swung and missed a square ball from Gundogan as City started creating the passing patterns to find him while Fulham closed ranks.
The ball was getting closer to the Norwegian but never in a position that he could score from.
And inevitably the goal came with De Bruyne’s cross converted with a firm header by Haaland with 15 minutes to go but there was tension with a VAR check that ruled the goal out for a clear offside.
Fulham made a double change with Tom Cairney and Daniel James coming on for Carlos Vinicius and Harry Wilson while Kevin Mbabu replaced Willian shortly afterwards.
City had to take more risks as time ran out – De Bruyne found Haaland again but he was driven wide.
Luke Harris was the final change for Fulham, replacing Pereira with 2 minutes to go.
But De Bruyne found a second wind to get past Harrison Reed and put a cross in for Haaland which the Norwegian won a corner from.
City crafted a late surge in injury time but the final ball from Gundogan seemed designed for the long legs of Haaland but it was instead Foden who couldn’t reach it.
And with the crowd on their feet and seconds to go, Antonee Robinson tripped De Bruyne as the Belgian tried to turn with the ball in the area.
It was a penalty, and with seconds to go Haaland stepped up and hit it into the left corner where it squirmed in under Leno who had guessed right but gone too quickly.
At 94 minutes and 33 seconds it was the latest winning goal for City since Raheem Sterling scored against Southampton on 95 minutes and four seconds.
The goal was Haaland’s 24th of the season – 16th at home for City, and his 18th in the Premier League – one more than Manchester United have managed this term.
GOALS – Manchester City 2, Fulham 1
Man City 1, Fulham 0: 16. Julian Alvarez drilled the ball into the roof of the net from 12 yards out after a perfect through ball by Ilkay Gundogan found him on the run towards goal.
Man City 1, Fulham 1: 28. Andreas Pereira sent Ederson the wrong way with a stuttering run up – ramming the ball into the bottom left hand corner as Ederson went the other way.
Man City 2, Fulham 1: 90+5. Erling Haaland stepped up and hit a penalty under Bernd Leno and into the bottom left corner.
MATCH STATS – Manchester City 2, Fulham 1
Man City: Ederson, Stones, Akanji, Ake, Cancelo, Rodri, De Bruyne, Gundogan (C) (Dias 90+7), Bernardo Silva, Grealish (Foden 64), Alvarez (Haaland 64)
Man City Subs not used: Ortega, Laporte, Gomez, Mahrez, Palmer, Lewis
Bookings: Bernardo Silva 45+2 (dissent); Haaland 90+6 (taking his shirt off/overcelebrating)
Sent off: Joao Cancelo (foul on Harry Wilson 27)
Goals: Alvarez 16; Haaland 90+5 pen
Fulham: Leno, Tete, Diop, Ream (C), Robinson, Reed, Joao Palhinha, Wilson (Cairney 77), Pereira (Harris 78), Willian (Mbabu 80), Carlos Vinicius (James 77)
Fulham Subs not used: Rodak, Kurzawa, Adarabioyo, Duffy, Onomah, Harris
Bookings: Pereira 7 (trip on Rodri); Reed 45 (foul on Kevin De Bruyne); Tete 63 (foul on Jack Grealish); Robinson 90+4 (foul on Kevin De Bruyne)
Goal: Pereira 28 pen
Referee: Darren England