Josko Gvardiol doubles up to sink Fulham and send Manchester City top | first division

Pep Guardiola feared Manchester City's title defense would be demolished on the Craven Cottage turf but they eliminated yet another opponent. Fulham were interested enough to turn things into a game and it is no reflection on that that hardly anyone has answers when the champions take control of proceedings like this. Only Arsenal have a chance of responding and, if a mercurial Manchester United manage to do their neighbors a favor on Sunday, their pursuers will probably be silenced too. Two wins in the next week will take City over the line regardless of events at Old Trafford.

When the dust has settled on this season, Arsenal may regret their New Year's Eve no-show at this venue. The stakes were more obvious for City here, but they never looked like they were changing their lines. Erling Haaland was offside, but left-back Josko Gvardiol, who has scored five goals in his last seven games, simply took over. Gvardiol started this procession and also put City three up, Phil Foden storming into the second at a time when Fulham They threatened to make things vaguely uncomfortable. Julián Álvarez finished the game with a penalty in stoppage time and they were able to launch the ball on a well-watered field that bore little resemblance to the type of dry, uneven surface his coach expected to find in west London.

Gvardiol had not scored for City until last month, but this period of the season sometimes produces unlikely heroes and the first of his contributions was a peach. There was none of the clumsiness of a converted centre-back in his demeanor when, after driving in, he received a return pass from Kevin De Bruyne and evaded Issa Diop with an immaculate first touch. He now had space to beat Bernd Leno and he did so with a right-footed shot from 15 meters; It was a display of running power, strength and ultimately elegance, and City had their platform.

Fulham had started brightly enough, moving quickly around the ball and recycling it with purpose as soon as they won it. Andreas Pereira won them a corner within two minutes and Antonee Robinson was incorrectly denied another after purposely overlapping; However, City know better than anyone how to take the sting out, and the rest of the first period was an exercise in control.

Moments after the first goal, Haaland hooked too high after Bernardo Silva headed in and City, whose pace was briefly disrupted when an injured Nathan Aké had to be replaced by Kyle Walker, continued to dictate at a near-walking pace. When increased urgency was required, Foden ran 50 yards back to stop a dangerous Fulham breakaway, and there was always the feeling that they too could push forward through the marches.

Another foray from Gvardiol, this time running towards the byline and cutting back, resulted in a Silva shot which Leno caught extravagantly. Two minutes later, Leno was behind a Foden piledriver and by that time Fulham, so full of good intentions at the start, were struggling to maintain meaningful possession. City had two more scoring opportunities before the break and Diop blocked them both, first deflecting a shot from De Bruyne and then preventing an almost certain goal for Silva.

Marco Silva rolled the dice at half-time. It was worth a try as Fulham had gone nowhere, so Tom Cairney and Adama Traoré came in for Bobby Decordova-Reid and Willian. In October 2019, Traoré had scored twice at the Etihad for Wolves, strengthening Liverpool's lead on a title they eventually won; here he took on Manuel Akanji before crossing behind the goal, summing up a frustrating career.

Leno temporarily kept Fulham in the game with a clever near-post save from Silva after Haaland and De Bruyne had worked well in the opening. Such a narrow lead would leave City vulnerable to a nasty surprise and they were reminded of this in the 57th minute when Traoré, getting back in behind, crossed for Rodrigo Muniz. A toepoke from Rodri intervened, but he needed Ederson, who had not worked before, to dive on the ball as it headed towards the goal.

It would be the last flash of the locals. De Bruyne made a great save from Leno and then, just before the hour mark, the result was guaranteed. Silva turned Robinson high on the right and headed towards the penalty area before João Palhinha stopped him with a firm, fair and forceful tackle. The crowd roared in approval but fell silent when Foden, turning towards the loose ball, guided a low shot past Leno's delivery.

This was now an opportunity for City to take advantage of Arsenal's goal difference. Haaland, sent off, approached, but Gvardiol's orientation was correct. With 19 minutes left, he sneaked in at the far post to take advantage of Silva's taunting, outstretched toe shot; He delayed his celebration by assuming an offside, but neither the assistant referee nor a video check by the assistant referee detected any problem.

Right at the end, Álvarez beat Leno from the penalty spot and Diop received the second yellow card for a foul on the scorer. Guardiola, tense at all times, was able to crack a smile.