Manchester City crushed Fulham 0-4 on the road, moving closer to a fourth consecutive Premier League title.
Due to injury, the Cottagers missed Sasha Lukich, whose place in the starting lineup was taken by Bobby Decordova-Reed, while receiving the captain’s armband.
One change occurred at the start of the “citizens”. It was Ruben Dias who appeared in place of Kyle Walker, who moved to the reserve.
Fulham looked good at the beginning of the match, did not press against their goal and did not allow City to threaten Bernd Leno’s goal. However, one moment was enough for the guests to open an account. In the 13th minute, Josko Guardiol played into the wall with Kevin De Bruyne, burst into the penalty area, advanced to the 11-meter mark and rolled the ball into the goal — 0:1.
In the future, the “townspeople” completely controlled the game and almost did not leave the other half of the field, but preferred to act reliably.
As a result, for the entire first half, the cottagers did not strike a single blow, even an inaccurate one, but at least they did not allow the opponent to score the second.
At half-time, Fulham head coach Marc Silva released Tom Kearney and Adam Traore, and these substitutions had a positive impact on the game of the hosts, who stepped up and began to try to attack.
However, the fact that the game became a little more open turned out to be in the hands of City. In the 59th minute, Joao Palinha cut down Bernard Silva on the edge of the penalty area, but the ball bounced comfortably to Phil Foden, who shot into touch with the bar – 0:2.
Soon Erling Holand could have scored his team’s third goal, but the Norwegian striker’s shot from an advantageous position turned out to be inaccurate.
In the 71st minute, the score still became big. Silva completed a throw to the far post, and Guardiol sent the ball into the corner of the goal with an outstretched leg — 0:3.
Already in stoppage time, Issa Diop knocked down Julian Alvarez in his penalty area and received a second yellow card. The victim himself realized the penalty kick — 0:4.
City continues to look like a well-oiled machine that does not fail. The “citizens” fulfilled their task and did it super-confidently, not allowing Fulham anything.
Fulham vs Manchester City. Match Report