Manchester City 3 (Mateo Kovacic 32′, 47′, Jeremy Doku 82′)
Fulham 2 (Andreas Pereira 26′, Rodrigo Munoz 88′)
Here are the City player ratings as Manchester City picked up three precious points with a hard-fought 3-2 win over Fulham at the Etihad Stadium. If there was ever a game to expose some of City’s flaws, this was it, and Fulham deserves credit for exposing them at the Etihad.
City started the day in a menacing mood but couldn’t make their early dominance count. They would pay the price for that in the 26th minute when a sublime Raul Jimenez flick set up Andreas Pereira to open the scoring. Manchester City would respond 6 minutes later through Mateo Kovacic who did his best Rodri impression to equalise in the 32nd minute. The game was delicately poised at halftime at 1-all, with Fulham having the better first-half chances.
The second half began with Mateo Kovacic resuming his Rodri impression by giving City the lead with a thumping finish in the 47th minute. From there it appeared that the champions may cruise to three points. But what unfolded after Kovacic’s strike was anything but routine.
Fulham continued to have their chances but one from Adama Traore stood out. The dynamic winger outpaced Kyle Walker and was clean through one-on-one but was denied by Ederson. From there, the threat of Marco Silva’s side was ever-present. Fulham had their moments of possession and City looked tired. The game followed that pattern until a bullet of a strike from Jeremy Doku gave City a 3-1 lead in the 82nd minute. That wonder strike appeared to have wrapped up all three points for Pep Guardiola’s side. But Fulham kept coming and a Rodrigo Muniz strike made it 3-2 in the 88th minute. City held out from there to claim a precious win at the Etihad.
Here are the City player ratings from a game when Manchester City picked a victory but some holes were exposed in the champions. The return of Nathan Ake and Kevin De Bruyne can’t come too soon for Pep Guardiola’s side as evidenced by City’s performance today.
City player ratings
Ederson-10/10: The man-of-the-match for me. He made two crucial saves and was brilliant in possession.
Rico Lewis-6/10: Not his best performance. Adama Traore exposed him defensively, but he was good in possession, especially in the second half.
Manuel Akanji-6.5/10: He made some crucial interventions at times but was caught out by the Jimenez flick for Fulham’s opener.
Ruben Dias-6.5/10: Like so many of his teammates not at his best. But when needed he made a crucial intervention or challenge.
Josko Gvardiol-9/10: His best display of the season. Was good in possession and vital at the back. His late block was crucial to City picking up three points.
Mateo Kovacic-9.5/10: Scored a vital brace which was the deciding factor in the game. I give Ederson the man-of-the-match honours as some of the times Kovacic lost possession led to Fulham counters. But he was brilliant despite that.
Ilkay Gundogan- 6.5/10: Once again had moments in good positions but didn’t take advantage of them. He was better in the second half than the first before he was substituted late on.
Bernardo Silva-6/10: His battle with Antonee Robinson was a feature of the game. But Bernardo wasn’t at his best throughout the 90 minutes.
Phil Foden-6/10: Had some moments, especially early, but was below his usual high standards for the majority of the game.
Jack Grealish-6/10: Not his best day. Threatened on a couple of occasions but didn’t affect the game as he would’ve liked.
Erling Haaland-6.5/10: He had his chances early, but he never stopped trying for his team. Haaland will have bigger impact on games with his goals, but I thought his contribution to the City’s win was vital.
Substitutes
Kyle Walker-6/10: He was brought on to quell Fulham’s threat on the break. Besides one opportunity that Adama Traore exposed him for pace he did what was required.
Jeremy Doku-8/10: His goal was sublime. As soon as he was introduced he induced panic in the Fulham defence.
John Stones-6/10: Made several crucial blocks but not on long enough to mark.
Matheus Nunes-N/A: Not on long enough to mark.
