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Manchester City defeated Fulham 2-1 in the Premier League on Saturday, November 5.
City entered this game on the back of four wins from their last five league games. They secured a hard-fought 1-0 win over Leicester City in their last game in the competition. They were two points behind leaders Arsenal coming into this fixture and knew a win would take them a point clear.
Pep Guardiola fielded a strong lineup for this game as Erling Haaland was fit enough to start from the bench.
Manchester City dominated possession of the ball in the first period and looked threatening in the final third. Their midfielders passed the ball well, while their forwards made smart runs into space. This stretched Fulham's backline and allowed City's players to operate in bigger gaps. Julian Alvarez handed the hosts the lead after 16 minutes from an assist by Ilkay Gundogan.
However, Fulham were handed a lifeline and a way back into the game just 10 minutes later. In a rush of blood to the head, Joao Cancelo made a last-man tackle and gave away a penalty in the 26th minute. He was also shown a straight red card since there was no covering defender. Andreas Pereira stepped up and converted from the spot to make it 1-1.
Despite maintaining three-quarters of possession in the first period, Manchester City were unable to score again as it was 1-1 at the break.
Both Manchester City and Fulham made shrewd and calculated start to the second period as they were desperate to avoid early slip-ups. Pep Guardiola and Marco Silva both made a host of changes to their respective XIs as they looked to add a new dimension to their play. City fans let out a huge roar as their hero Haaland returned to action from injury, appearing as a substitute.
He came on and scored just 10 minutes after, but the goal was disallowed as Haaland was marginally offside in the build-up. However, he made amends in stoppage time. De Bruyne was brought down inside the box and the Norwegian stepped up and scored to make it 2-1. Manchester City held on and secured the win.
With that said, let's take a look at the five hits and flops from the game.
#5. Hit - Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)
De Bruyne was once again the star of the show for Manchester City with the ball at his feet. He displayed remarkable vision, creativity, and composure to carry out his ideas.
He completed 33 passes with 79% accuracy, including five key passes, five crosses and four long balls. He also created one big chance. De Bruyne won eight of his 13 duels and made six tackles. He also earned the penalty that Haaland scored from late in the game.
#4. Flop - Joao Cancelo (Manchester City)
Cancelo, who is usually a bonafide performer in this Manchester City team, was their unlikely villain today. He made an erroneous judgment midway through the first half and committed himself to a tackle despite being the last man. He caught the player and was penalized.
To make things worse, the foul was committed inside the 18-yard box, resulting in a penalty for Fulham and a straight red for Cancelo.
#3. Hit - Bernd Leno (Fulham)
Leno had a decent game for Fulham and did well to keep his side in the game after City piled the pressure on them. He made three good saves and one punch to clear the ball but was unlucky to concede a second goal deep into added time.
#2. Flop - Jack Grealish (Manchester City)
Grealish has enjoyed a consistent run of starts for the first time since joining City from Aston Villa in 2021. However, he has been a shadow of his past self and has been unable to make an impact on the games he's featured in.
He had 56 touches of the ball in the game and played 33 accurate passes. However, just one of them was productive as he played one long ball. He also lost possession of the ball 16 times.
#1. Hit - Julian Alvarez (Manchester City)
Alvarez stepped up when asked as he did well to cover for Haaland, who started the game from the bench.
Alvarez was heavily-involved in City's attacks as he attempted three shots and completed two dribbles. He also played one key pass and one cross and won three of his five duels.
