Manchester City beat Fulham after Jérémy Doku added Kovacic's double | first division

In these first days without Rodri city ​​of manchester He lacks the absolute dominance that the incomparable number 6 offers, so Pep Guardiola, as promised, is finding solutions. This time there was a two-goal spectacle from Mateo Kovacic, who, acting in the Spaniard's position, equaled his goal tally from last season with a draw and then City's second.

But the champions are much more open, since Andreas Pereira's goal and Rodrigo Muñiz's goal in the 88th minute for Fulham illustrated, along with other passages, such as during the second half when his set piece ended with Josko Gvardiol diving to the ground to block Raúl Jiménez's shot near the penalty spot.

Muñiz's goal also came when City had already qualified. Emile Smith Rowe passed the right pass to Reiss Nelson, who passed the ball to the Brazilian and he made no mistake.

And although Jérémy Doku's astute shoulder movement and his movement inwards to his right to allow a powerful shot with his right foot proved decisive, the measure of City's discomfort was in the match that ended with them in almost clutch mode, in addition to Ederson entering the area. book for the slow play and his manager for the subsequent sarcastic applause.

The initial menu consisted of a host of City opportunities. Ilkay Gündogan put Erling Haaland in, but Bernd Leno saved the shot. Gündogan ran, but his attempt to turn with his left boot went wide. Haaland did the same: he missed from the right. Rico Lewis was brought down by Sasa Lukic, Bernardo Silva was the one who blocked City's shot into the Fulham barrier and Haaland hit him with the free kick. Oh.

From here, City lost the thread. Kovacic, Jack Grealish and Lewis were clumsy, the latter particularly fractious in allowing Adama Traoré's blistering pace to win the opposition. Suddenly, the number 11 shot, although Ederson's legs saved his team.

It may be easy to interpret all this as a corollary of Rodri's absence, but the firm evidence came with the end of Pereira. Firstly, City could well have been switching the opposition through the Spaniard's subtle link-up play, thus preventing Fulham from having possession. Secondly, it would have prevented Marco Silva's team from searching on the left and switching to the right. Instead, the impressive Alex Iwobi produced a wonderful backheel cross and Pereira scored with a volley.

A carbon copy almost followed. Another lost pass from Grealish allowed Jiménez to feed Pereira. The number 18 ran 60 meters down the right and found Iwobi, who gave the ball to Traoré in front of the goal. But as Ederson advanced, the number 11 stabbed high.

Silva couldn't believe the ruling. His men soon paid. After going downfield, City claimed a corner and from there the ball fell to Kovacic. An instant shot bounced off Joachim Andersen's leg, confusing Leno and making it 1-1.

Before the second half, Guardiola gave a final exhortation to his pupils in the tunnel and seconds later, Kovacic scored again. Grealish passed Foden on the left and he clipped Silva, whose chest pass to the Croatian was as ruthless as the latter's right boot strike that beat Leno on the left.

Kovacic said: “It means a lot because my wife is pregnant so it was great to be able to achieve some goals for the little one. It's nice to score but the most important thing is the team and we won today. Good game for us.”

On the hour, a double change from City: Grealish and Manuel Akanji left and Doku and Kyle Walker entered. Lewis, preferred in the XI rather than captain, stayed at right back and Walker took up Akanji's central defensive role. In poise, grace and technical mastery, Lewis is Guardiola's model footballer – all of these traits displayed in the ball control and chest volley that could have beaten Leno if not for hitting Haaland.

Walker's game centers around his renowned pace, but at 2-1 he was unable to prevent Traoré from pulling away before he once again lacked the lethal eye to beat Ederson. After the final whistle, he regretted this and his other mistakes.