“With Fulham already obliged to chase the game, Bernardo Silva held up the ball well before releasing Sterling for a run on goal. The winger looked odds-on to score with only Bettinelli to beat but ended up putting his shot far too close to the goalkeeper, who pushed it onto the bar.”
In his address to supporters to mark the 10th anniversary of the Abu Dhabi takeover, the owner, Sheikh Mansour, suggested Manchester City are merely “halfway up their Everest”. They are already out of sight to Fulham, who by the same calculation must be observing events from somewhere between base camp and a hole in the ground. Even though there were only half as many goals, this was as much of a mismatch as Huddersfield being hit for six last month.
To say they won with something to spare would be to risk serious understatement. City had John Stones, İlkay Gündoğan, Riyad Mahrez, Gabriel Jesus and Phil Foden on the bench, with no place for Benjamin Mendy anywhere. Rotation was the official line when eyebrows were raised at the French international’s absence. City will be telling us the height of Salisbury cathedral next, but whatever the reason for the absence of one of the better performers this season, Mendy was not missed.
The visitors were behind after two minutes, and the contest would have been as good as over with a quarter of an hour had Raheem Sterling’s erratic finishing not come back to haunt him.
Leroy Sané marked his first start of the league campaign with one of the easiest goals he will ever score after a heavy touch by Jean Michaël Seri in his own half was mercilessly punished by Fernandinho. The Brazilian intervened decisively as soon as the Fulham midfielder failed to control a pass from Marcus Bettinelli, galloping into space behind a non-existent defensive line to find Sané up in support with a cross that required only a tap-in.
With Fulham already obliged to chase the game, Bernardo Silva held up the ball well before releasing Sterling for a run on goal. The winger looked odds-on to score with only Bettinelli to beat but ended up putting his shot far too close to the goalkeeper, who pushed it onto the bar.
At least Sterling made amends five minutes later with a hand in City’s second goal, finding Bernardo Silva in space for a cross from the byline. Sergio Agüero was on to it first, only to see Seri block his shot, but with City players queuing up on the six-yard line David Silva calmly tucked away from the loose ball.
Fulham did manage a couple of goal attempts in the first half, both from André Schürrle and both saved by Ederson, the second requiring a far more acrobatic stop than the first. Yet with City in control from such an early stage the afternoon inevitably resolved itself into a question of how many more they might score. They could easily have gone further ahead before the interval but for Bettinelli spreading himself to keep out a shot from the energetic Sané, then ending the half with a one-handed save to deny Sterling.
The visitors’ defensive resolve at the start of the second half lasted about as long as it did in the first, Agüero cutting in from the right wing to beat Alfie Mawson and leave Sterling with an unmissable chance from a couple of yards out, albeit one made more difficult by a late touch from Seri on the way through. Agüero departed after that, warmly applauded even though it had not been one of his most productive outings. His replacement, Gabriel Jesus, then almost scored with his first touch when David Silva crossed to the near post.
With no further goals and little urgency on show from either side, the last half-hour was soporific, if not downright tedious. Bernardo Silva should have made it four before the end but blasted high over the bar when unselfishly set up by Jesus.
The Genius Media
