The individual review of the game between Manchester City and Fulham.
A dramatic injury-time penalty from Erling Haaland lifted Manchester City to the top of the Premier League, beating Fulham 2-1 at home on Saturday afternoon after playing more than an hour with ten men.
Much like the rain in Manchester, Pep Guardiola’s side were relentless early in the game, taking a deserved lead as they overran the visitors. The rain didn’t let up, but City were put on the defensive with a man down in the first half hour.
Joao Cancelo was rightly sent off after faulting Andreas Pereira’s penalty. Haaland, who came off the bench, secured City’s three points just before the end – with a penalty that Fulham could have prevented.
Fulham may have been without talented striker Aleksandar Mitrovic but arrived home in seventh place and have picked up more points this season than the last two seasons combined.
Marco Silva didn’t play his side in the familiar armadillo form most teams use at the Etihad Stadium. But City quickly took advantage of the space behind Fulham’s defense created by the visitors’ pressing.
Ilkay Gündogan exchanged a few passes in the center circle before charging forward and serving Julian Alvarez with a treacherous pass into the box. Haaland’s substitute hit the net with a shot from the bottom of the bar in the 17th minute.
City then had more possession and more play until they lost their footing in the 26th minute.
Joao Palhinha broke away from Nathan Ake with the ball and sent Harry Wilson into the box. In a desperate attempt to get Wilson out of the way, Cancelo stabbed him in the back, leaving the referee with little choice but to award a penalty and show City’s last man a red card.
Pereira had committed a nasty tackle in the first half that went unpunished by the referees but stayed on the pitch and converted the penalty into the bottom corner.
City initially dealt with the numerical inferiority a bit chaotically before they came into play better after the break and seized the game with more possession. Fulham were limited to just three shots in the entire game.
Guardiola bet on his joker in the last 25 minutes. Haaland came off the bench and nodded off the supposed winning goal, but the VAR intervened.
Kevin De Bruyne had set up the Nordic striker’s unrecognized header but created another opportunity for a crucial intervention from the bench. De Bruyne floundered in Fulham’s box and lured Antonee Robinson into a hasty tackle, earning Haaland the penalty in the 95th minute.
1. The Notes of the Cityzens
TW: Ederson – Grade: 5/10 – Could have helped Cancelo with a verbal instruction to avoid being sent off as he was in close proximity to the foul play.
RV: John Stones – Grade: 4/10 – 53 seconds before Cancelo was sent off, his goal was disallowed. Found in midfield for much of the game.
IV: Manuel Akanji – Grade: 5/10 – Tried to play a pass between the lines, but ran away from the ball too often.
IV: Nathan Ake – Grade: 3/10 – Cancelo had to try to compensate for Ake’s initial mistake as he ended up loser in a 50-50 duel with Palhinha.
LV: Joao Cancelo – Grade: 2/10 – Was confused when he was sent off, but Cancelo’s attempt at a tackle with the shoulder hit the space between Wilson’s shoulder blades.
CM: Kevin De Bruyne – Grade: 7/10 – In constant motion, scurrying around on the field and always finding space.
CM: Rodri – Grade: 8/10 – After the red card, Rodri became increasingly important as he had to slide between midfield and defense while City risked becoming vulnerable to counter-attacks.
CM: Ilkay Gündogan – Grade: 6/10 – He scurried around in midfield and kept winning with his runs against the ball.
RA: Bernardo Silva – Grade: 5/10 – Was increasingly frustrated with the refereeing decisions that detracted from his game.
ST: Julian Alvarez – grading: 7/10 – took his goal with flying colors and kept causing problems for Fulham’s back line by rushing in and out of depth. It is unlikely that he will make way for Haaland.
LA: Jack Grealish – Grade: 4/10 – Pulled players towards him when carrying the ball but didn’t deliver an end product himself.
Substitute: Phil Foden (64th for Grealish) – Grade: 4/10 – Largely ineffective after his substitution.
Substitute: Erling Haaland (64th for Alvarez) – grade: 7/10 – scored the winning goal with a penalty shortly before the end..
Substitute: Ruben Dias (90+6 for Gundogan) – no grade
Coach: Pep Guardiola – Grade: 5/10 – Perhaps he had Mitrovic in mind, but Guardiola had warned his side of the danger of ‘second balls’ against Fulham before the game. Ake’s failure to process one resulted in Cancelo’s dismissal.
Everything about Man City in 90min:
This article was originally published on 90min.com/de as.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
