Manchester City maintained their recent fine form by cruising past a lifeless Fulham at Craven Cottage on Saturday.
2018/2019 Premier League
0-2
Match Report
First-half goals from Bernardo Silva and Sergio Aguero earned Manchester City a 2-0 win over Fulham that moved Pep Guardiola’s men back to the top of the Premier League ahead of Liverpool’s clash with Tottenham on Sunday.
Cottagers caretaker boss Scott Parker saw his side make early mistakes that were punished by City’s clinical forwards, who all but condemned the West Londoners to an eighth consecutive Premier League defeat within the opening half hour.
Bernardo Silva never let Fulham rest and he followed up his crisply struck goal on five minutes with an assist for Aguero, who scored his fourth goal in five top flight starts against Fulham after 27 minutes.
Parker sent out a more resilient Fulham side after the interval but City, with Kevin De Bruyne restored to their midfield after he recovered from a hamstring injury, remained dominant to move a point ahead of Liverpool at the summit.
Player Ratings
Match Events
4' CHANCE! Aguero's shot saved
Aguero should’ve done better there after finding space in the box once he and Bernardo Silva played a quick one-two, but Le Marchand is able to get a block in and the hosts clear once again!
5' GOAL! Fulham 0-1 Man City (Bernardo Silva)
GOOOOAAALLL!! CITY ARE ALREADY 1-0 UP! Slack defending by Fulham as Christie cheaply gives the ball away to De Bruyne, who immediately plays in Aguero who finds Bernardo Silva at the edge of the box, and the latter cuts in and takes a few touches before slotting the ball past a flailing Rico!
9' CLOSE! De Bruyne's shot saved
De Bruyne forces a corner off Rico after his cross fails to find a shirt in dark blue but almost catches the Fulham goalkeeper off his line in the process! The set-piece is cleared only as far out as Sterling just outside the area, but he gets another City corner after his shot is deflected.
16' GREAT CHANCE! De Bruyne's shot saved
DE BRUYNE NEARLY MAKES IT 2-0! Aguero is able to chest down Otamendi’s clearing header and play in the onrushing De Bruyne, who fails to get a clean hit when hitting the ball first-time and Rico is able to get down low to save it!
27' GOAL! Fulham 0-2 Man City (Aguero)
GOOOOAAAALLLL!!! AGUERO MAKES IT 2-0!! More slapstick defending from Fulham, as Bryan lazily gives the ball away to the alert Bernardo Silva who quickly makes him pay by playing Aguero in, and the Argentina striker makes no mistake after outrunning his markers to confidently net it past Rico!
61' CHANCE! Sterling's shot saved
STERLING GOES CLOSE! Cairney’s clearance goes straight to Zinchenko, who immediately finds Sterling in the penalty area and the winger takes a touch before curling it towards goal only for Rico to palm it away! Bernardo Silva tries to get in on the rebound but Chambers gets in the way before Rico collects it at the second attempt!
80' CLOSE! Walker's shot hits the post
WALKER HITS THE WOODWORK! The England right-back times his run to perfection as he rushes into the box and gets on the end of Sterling’s cute throughball only for his effort to bounce off the right post!
Line-ups
Fulham XI: Ryan Babel, F. Ayité, Le Marchand, T. Cairney, C. Christie, Sergio Rico, J. Bryan, Chambers, Anguissa, Mensah, Ryan Sessegnon
Subs: K. McDonald, D. Odoi, Fabri, Schürrle, N. Kebano, Vietto, S. Sessegnon
Man City XI: David Silva, S. Agüero, N. Otamendi, K. Walker, İ. Gündoğan, K. De Bruyne, R. Sterling, A.Laporte, Ederson Moraes, Zinchenko, Bernardo Silva
Subs: Fernandinho, Danilo, Mahrez, J. Stones, Sané, Gabriel Jesus, A. Murić