4 days ago
19
Manchester City won a chaotic game of football 5-4 against Fulham as they narrowly avoided throwing away a four-goal lead
Manchester City held on to beat Fulham 5-4 in the Premier League to move two points behind Arsenal at the top of the table. Pep Guardiola's side were cruising at 5-1 in the second half but ended up hanging on by the skin of their teeth.
Erling Haaland gave the Blues a deserved lead early on with his 100th Premier League goal, and Tijjani Reijnders and Phil Foden put them further ahead. Emile Smith-Rowe got one back before half-time but two goals from City in the first 10 minutes of the second half looked to have killed the contest.
However, Fulham hauled themselves back into it and City had few answers as they barely heled on for a precious three points. Here are the player ratings from the Manchester Evening News.
Donnarumma: Made some good saves and couldn't do much about the efforts that did beat him but he can't be happy with four conceded. 6
Nunes: Happy to charge down the right and get involved in attacks with Foden and Silva. 5
Dias: Played Fulham players on more than once for one of their goals in a late wobble for City. 6
Gvardiol: A bit lazy at times in the second half to give the home team and their crowd something to cheer about, and was caught out of possession. 5
O'Reilly: Looked good going forward but went missing a few times at the back when he was needed. 5
Gonzalez: Got himself into important positions to protect the defence and went off before the chaos. 7
Silva: Earned the wrath of Dias after failing to close down Chukwueze for the Fulham third, felt like the game for away from him. 6
Foden: Outstanding again, taking responsibility on the pitch and scoring two excellent goals. 8
Reijnders: A terrific goal and he did well for City's fourth, although he seemed to run out of legs as Fulham finished the strong. 7
Doku: A nice assist for the first goal, earned his luck for the fifth and was off the pitch by the time Fulham's fightback really began. 8
Haaland: A record-breaking goal, two assists, wrestled with the Fulham defence all night and could have easily had another two goals in a return to form. 8
Substitutes
Savinho (for Doku, 64) A lovely cross for Haaland but he needed to help O'Reilly out more. 5
Stones (for Gonzalez, 64) Came on needing to steady the ship but he struggled. 5
Cherki (for Reijnders, 82) Foot on the ball. 6
Ake (for Foden, 97) No time
Not used: Trafford, Ait-Nouri, Khusanov, Lewis
Simon is the MEN's Chief Manchester City Writer. He joined the MEN sport desk in 2013 and has covered City home and away since 2016, reporting on Pep Guardiola's time at the club.
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