5 October 2024
Man City 3 Fulham 2
Nobody relishes a trip to the Etihad Stadium with the form of Erling Haaland. Fulham were the team with the unenviable task, no doubt glad to see Guardiola’s side without Rodri and De Bruyne in the heart of midfield. That said, with the depth of their squad, this was still a mammoth task. Marco Silva would have to pull off a miracle to upset the odds in this one.
Playing out from the back even for the best of teams can often seem like kamikaze football. A stray pass from Leno gifted the ball to Bernardo Silva, with a pinball pass picking out Gundogan, via a few deflections. The only real surprise was that he pulled his shot wide of the goal, as the Fulham keeper breathed a real sigh of relief. City don’t need an invite to put your goal under pressure.
Foden made his first start of the season after an impressive display in midweek. He linked up well with Haaland before slotting it into the path of the big Norwegian. From a tight angle he managed to get a shot off with his favoured left foot but his effort narrowly missed the far post. At this stage, it was looking like a long afternoon ahead for the visitors.
Fulham’s first chance of the game came from a Man City corner. Leno collected the cross well and immediately threw it out to Jimenez. He played a sublime pass towards Traore, who muscled Lewis off the ball. The winger was clean through with only Ederson to beat. His shot was saved by the legs of the Brazilian but he really should have scored.
The visitors started to grow in confidence. Iwobi played the ball into Jimenez wide in the box. He then backheeled it into the six yard box for Pereira to stab home. It stunned The Etihad but you just had to take your hat off to the creative genius of Fulham’s Mexican striker in the build-up. He is starting to get back to being the player we saw before his horrific injury.
Marco Sllva’s side were brilliant in transition. As another Man City attack broke down, Jimenez set Pereira free. He strode into the opponent’s half before feeding it into Iwobi in the box. The former Arsenal man then picked out Traore on the edge of the six yard box. Sadly for the visitors, he blazed his effort over the crossbar.
If Traore spent as much time as he does in the gym on his finishing, he would be world class. The man mountain of a winger has it all, apart from the end product. His frame suggests he should never be as quick as he is. The only criticism being that he pulls the trigger like a Taliban soldier. Nobody knows where it is going to go, even Adama.
The Cottagers were then dealt the cruellest blow for their troubles. As they failed to clear a Man City cross, the ball dropped to Kovacic. Leno seemed to have the effort covered but it took a huge deflection off Andersen and ended up in the back of the net. It could have been all so different for the visitors, on another day they would have been three-nil up at this stage.
After the interval, Man City continued to play their probing football. Silva laid off a cross into the path of Kovacic, who took one touch to settle himself, before curling it into the far corner of the goal. Leno had no chance of keeping it out. The home fans breathed a sigh of relief as things seemed to be going according to plan once again.
Then came a truly jaw-dropping moment. Fulham turned defence into attack once again as they played the ball over the Man City defensive line. Traore was five yards behind Walker in a foot race but turned on the afterburners and beat the right-back to the ball. He used his physicality to hold him off and was one on one with Ederson.
Once again he showed the finishing skills of someone with an eating disorder. The winger could and probably should have been celebrating his hat-trick after that one. There are black-ops sites around the world where hostages’ last requests now before facing the firing squad are…..can Adama Traore take the shot? It was not going to be a good night’s sleep for the big man.
Fulham almost got their equaliser when Jimenez had a sight of goal. Only a sublime sliding challenge from Gvardiol was to deny him. It was looking like a certain goal until the Croatian came lunging over. These are the fine lines that the Premier League is all about. It can be such an unforgiving mistress at times and Marco Silva’s side were on the receiving end of it.
Doku then cut inside from the left with his trademark stepovers and dummies before striking a venomous shot which swerved all over the place before beating Leno. It was a superb strike from the Belgian and something which Guardiola had hoped to be seeing on a more regular basis from the winger when he signed him.
The former Arsenal connection then combined with time fast running out. Smith Rowe played it into the path of Nelson out wide. His cross picked out Muniz, who had time in the middle to control the ball and get a shot away. It was past Ederson before he could even react and once again silenced the home faithful. Sadly for the visitors it was too late to get anything out of the game.
Man City took all three points but Marco Silva’s side needed some credit for this performance. They played like a side with no fear and tactically were perfectly set up for the challenge. Poor finishing had cost them on this occasion and will give Pep Guardiola plenty of food for thought over the international break. That aside, they had kept the pressure on Liverpool at the top.
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