Fulham vs Manchester City Review
In a thrilling Premier League encounter, Manchester City narrowly held off a Fulham comeback to secure a 5-4 victory at Craven Cottage, marking their 19th consecutive head-to-head win. City have now closed the gap to just five points behind leaders Arsenal. Within six minutes, Erling Haaland nearly opened the scoring when his shot hit the post from a promising position. However, the Norwegian striker made no mistake with his next chance, confidently finishing Jérémy Doku’s low cross to score his 100th Premier League goal, becoming the fastest player to reach this milestone in only 111 games.
Emile Smith Rowe was the biggest threat for the home team, forcing Gianluigi Donnarumma into a low save before shooting over the goal. However, Haaland became the assister as halftime approached, setting up Tijjani Reijnders, who then chipped the ball over the advancing Bernd Leno. Soon after, the visitors extended their lead to three thanks to Phil Foden’s impressive long-range strike. While Fulham were taught a lesson in clinical finishing by their opponents during the first half, they gave themselves some hope by narrowing the gap just before halftime with a smart header from Smith Rowe.
That hope seemed to vanish within 10 minutes after the second half began. Foden quickly scored his second goal of the match, slotting the ball in from a tight angle, followed by Doku’s shot, which deflected off Sander Berge and slipped just under the crossbar. This marked City’s fifth goal of the game, the first time they had scored five at Craven Cottage since 1927. Fulham did manage to score again when Alex Iwobi curled a fantastic low shot into the bottom corner from the edge of the box, but initially struggled to gain momentum, while City came close once more when an unmarked Haaland headed the ball against the post.
Fulham managed to ignite their comeback, and with just under 20 minutes left, they created an exciting finish to the match when Samuel Chukwueze volleyed into the corner, scoring his first goal for Fulham. In a continuously thrilling game, the Nigerian quickly added a second goal for the Cottagers, delivering another precise shot after Donnarumma was caught off guard from a corner.
Encouraged by a stunned home crowd, Fulham pushed hard for an equalizer, but Josh King had a late opportunity cleared off the line, and they ultimately couldn’t secure the goal that would have completed one of the most remarkable comebacks in Premier League history. Manchester City have now won four of their last five league matches, while Fulham suffered only their second home league defeat of the season.
