Manchester City 3, Fulham 2
Jeremy Doku scored a fine solo goal after Mateo Kovacic’s double strike against Fulham got Manchester City out of trouble.
Andreas Pereira’s early strike – the 3rd time in four home games at the Etihad that City had conceded first – had given the home side a wake up call while Rodrigo Muniz’ late strike ensured that City could not coast to their usual easy win at home.
Victory meant City went unbeaten at home in 50 games in all competitions – the fourth English side to manage that feat – and 30 Premier League games unbeaten.
This was another match for City without the influence of Rodri in midfield and it was easy to see that City boss Pep Guardiola was still looking for ways to collectively replace not just Rodri but also Kevin De Bruyne who was also missing from the squad for Fulham.
Ilkay Gundogan and Erling Haaland both saw chances go wide after some poor build up by the visitors.
City were wasteful again and were punished after 26 minutes when they failed to clear a Fulham corner and the Cottagers were allowed to recycle the ball with Raul Jimenez’ backheel foxing the City defence and giving Andreas Pereira a chance to stab the loose ball home from inside the 6 yard box.
Adama Traore was given a free shot after City’s defence fell apart again on the break after Alex Iwobi set him up but he blazed it over from close range.
City were missing the creativity of Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden unfortunately couldn’t provide that spark on the day but Mateo Kovacic did a reasonable impression of the badly-missed Rodri’s sense of timing for late arrivals in the box.
Kovacic put City back on terms, meeting the loose ball from Gundogan’s corner to smash in the equaliser after 32 minutes but City definitely knew they were in a game.
And although Savinho and Jeremy Doku were walking up before the break neither of them came on but they weren’t needed as the players they might have replaced – Jack Grealish and Bernardo Silva, combined to create another chance for Kovacic to ghost onto and score from inside the box.
City continued to find it hard to break down Fulham for a third goal and also had to be cautious of counter attacks – Adama Traore beat Kyle Walker out for a chance to shoot which Ederson saved.
Fulham were pinning City back quite effectively without creating too much until City pulled clear courtesy of a bit of Jeremy Doku magic down the left flank as he got the ball out wide from Rico Lewis before cutting inside, shimmying to create space and then curling in City’s third on 82 minutes.
Plain sailing? No.
Fulham reduced the deficit again through Rodrigo Muniz after he had received a square pass from Reiss Nelson with 88 minutes on the clock and cue a tense finish at the Etihad.
PLAYER RATINGS – Manchester City 3, Fulham 2
Ederson: 7. 2 Big saves from Adama Traore.
Rico Lewis: 6. Played high up brought down by Sasa Lukic for early free kick. He had a torrid time defensively against Antonee Robinson and lost Adama Traore to give the winger a chance to shoot and was still trailing back when the big winger blazed over a chance from close range. Shot blocked and another deflected off Erling Haaland to go wide. Set up Jeremy Doku after he was released from his defensive duties.
Manuel Akanji: 6. Left outnumbered defensively at times as Fulham raided the flanks.
Ruben Dias: 7. Marshalled the City defence well with a couple of good clearances.
Josko Gvardiol: 6. Tidy defensively. Good going forward.
Mateo Kovacic: 8. Sat deep and recycled the ball effectively. Had a couple of shots blocked but importantly smashed in the equaliser and the put them into the lead early in the second half.
Ilkay Gundogan: 6. Played quite high up the pitch again. Shot wide from 15 yards out and header went wide too.
Bernardo Silva: 7. Played wide on the right but used his guile to create space. Not happy when Erling Haaland smashed a free kick into his head as he was on the ground. Headed wide. Controlled a cross from Jack Grealish to set up Mateo Kovacic. Had a great chance to finish the game off late on but shot straight at Bernd Leno after Erling Haaland set him up.
Phil Foden: 6. Big chance at number 10 but there were precious few forward balls into the box as he had a quiet game.
Jack Grealish: 6. Created width down the left and put some balls into the box including the one which turned into Mateo Kovacic’s second goal of the day.
Erling Haaland: 6. Fired wide and weirdly thrashed a free kick against Bernardo Silva’s head – but the chances kept coming even though he couldn’t quite find the target. Great run late on and unselfishly set up Bernardo Silva only for the midfielder to shoot tamely straight at Bernd Leno.
Kyle Walker (on for Manuel Akanji, 62): 6. Became a third centre back but outpaced by Adama Traore for a counter attack and was saved by Ederson. Is age catching up with the speedy full back?
Jeremy Doku (on for Jack Grealish, 62): 7. Replaced the England man on the left flank and his direct running gave Fulham something to worry about. Inevitably, he scored a solo goal late on to give City a cushion which they needed.
John Stones (on for Phil Foden, 78): No time to mark
Matheus Nunes (on for Ilkay Gundogan, 88): No time to mark.
GOALS – Manchester City 3, Fulham 2
Man City 0, Fulham 1: 26. Andreas Pereira stabbed home Raul Jimenez’ back heel into the 6 yard box after City failed to clear a corner.
Man City 1, Fulham 1: 32. Mateo Kovacic smashed home the equaliser after Fulham failed to clear Ilkay Gundogan’s corner.
Man City 2, Fulham 1: 47. Mateo Kovacic fired in his second goal of the game after Jack Grealish’s left wing cross was knocked into his path by Bernardo Silva with the Croat scoring from just inside the box.
Man City 3, Fulham 1: 82. Jeremy Doku cut inside from the left, did a shimmy, and curled in City’s third goal after he was released by Rico Lewis.
Man City 3, Fulham 2: 88. Rodrigo Muniz turned and his shot deflected off John Stones and into the goal after he reacted quickly to Reiss Nelson’s square pass.
MATCH STATS – Manchester City 3, Fulham 2
Man City: Ederson, Lewis, Akanji (Walker 64), Dias (C), Gvardiol, Kovacic, Gundogan (Nunes 88), Bernardo Silva, Foden (Stones 78), Grealish (Doku 64), Haaland
Man City Subs not used: Ortega, Carson, Savinho, McAtee
Bookings: Ederson 90+3 (time wasting); Bernado Silva 90+5 (time wasting)
Goals: Kovacic 32, 47; Doku 82
Fulham: Leno (C), Tete (Castagne 77), Andersen, Bassey, Robinson, Berge (Cairney 65), Lukic, Traore, Pereira (Smith Rowe 65), Iwobi (Nelson 77), Jimenez (Muniz 77)
Fulham Subs not used: Benda, Reed, Wilson, Diop
Bookings: Bassey 65 (shirt pull on Phil Foden)
Goal: Pereira 26
Referee: Peter Bankes