Fulham 0 Man City 4
Pep Guardiola’s side travelled to the capital for a tricky fixture against Fulham. It was their turn to have the early kick-off this weekend, which meant they had the chance to go top of the table with victory. Man City had won their last fifteen games at Craven Cottage.
The visitors made the perfect start when Gvardiol picked the ball up on the left wing. He looked to cut inside and played a neat one-two with De Bruyne before cutting onto his right foot and slotting the ball past the Fulham keeper like an attacking midfielder rather than a defender.
As the net bulged the away end erupted and the celebration from the City players showed just how much this meant to them to defend their crown. The Croatian took some time to settle into the side but was looking worth every penny of his £77.6m price tag right now.
Guardiola’s side never took their foot off the gas and Foden fed the ball into Silva to shoot but it deflected wide for a corner. As they worked it short, De Bruyne swung a delightful ball into the back post but an unmarked Akanji could only volley over the bar when a goal seemed certain.
Credit: @ManCity
Despite the visitors’ dominance in the first half, the chances were limited. Even the best sides can feel the nerves at times and Fulham were making themselves hard to break down. Almost as difficult as the Premier League are finding the Man City legal team.
The Cottagers started the second half in positive mood and Iwobi managed to pick out Muniz in the box. He tried a deft flick into the bottom corner but Ederson managed to scramble across his goal to get a hand to it to deny the hosts.
Man City came forward once again and as Bernardo Silva looked to shoot on the edge of the box, he was clattered by a sliding challenge. The ball broke to Foden who struck it first time into the bottom corner to give the defending champions some breathing space in this game.
The away end all started doing the Poznan to celebrate, well, all bar one fan. Noel Gallagher stood there facing forward as all the other fans had their back to the pitch. Obviously, he likes the celebration about as much as he does his brother Liam.
Phil Foden has had one of his best seasons in a Man City shirt and has been integral to their league position. If he does not make the England first team at the Euros, that is enough rationale to sack Gareth Southgate. You should be building sides around such immense talents.
He played the ball to De Bruyne who threaded it through the eye of a needle into the path of Haaland. With a clear sight of goal, the Norwegian ballooned his effort high into the stands, leaving both players and fans in disbelief.
Credit: @premierleague
Guardiola’s front line was firing on all cylinders in West London. As they forced another corner, it was played short to Silva who bent a teasing ball into the back post. Gvardiol slid in to beat Leno and put this game to bed. The Fulham keeper will have felt he should have done better with the effort.
Deep into added time Lewis crossed from the byline towards Alvarez, who was upended by Diop. The Fulham man was given his marching orders as he had already been shown a yellow card in the game. There was no doubt that it was a penalty, that is for sure.
Alvarez stepped up for the visitors, despite Gvardiol being on a hat-trick, and sent the keeper the wrong way as he slotted it into the bottom corner. There seems to be no stopping this Man City side, as they look to pip Arsenal to the Premier League title.
Pep Guardiola gets his side into their best form at the business end of the season. This is why he is probably the best manager in the world right now. His side took all three points and moved two points clear at the top of the table with two games left to play.
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