City crush Fulham 5-1 with the help of an Erling Haaland hat-trick and restore their lead in the Premier League.
City crush Fulham. Match review
City start the match rather sluggishly and fail to test Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno in the first half hour.
However, in the 31st minute, the hosts open the scoring. Mateo Kovacic makes a pass into the box to Erling Holand, who crosses the ball into the centre to Julian Alvarez — 1:0.
The visitors’ response follows immediately. After a corner kick, Raul Jimenez shoots with a touch. Ederson saves his team, but the ball bounces to Tim Ream, who strikes from close range — 1:1.
From there, the game returns to a leisurely pace and is only revitalised at the very end of the first half when Nathan Ake pulls back to head home Foden’s corner kick — 2-1. The VAR system determines that Akanji, who was standing in the way of the ball, did not interfere with the goalkeeper.
In the 58th minute, Cityzens finally take away the intrigue of the game. Alvarez sends Haaland one-on-one in the centre with the help of a ricochet from Rome, and Erling coolly uses his moment — 3:1.
Ten minutes later, Issa Diop fouls Alvarez in his own penalty box and Haaland converts the penalty — 4-1.
Already in extra time, substitute Sergio Gomez makes a great play on the left flank and brings Haaland into the penalty area — 5:1.
City are extremely slow in this match, but their superior skill gives them a rather confident victory.
Jérémy Doku
Good touches, gutsy in tackling defenders… He has speed… Teammates need time to get used to him, they didn’t pass to him when he clearly had space to run in