Man City cruised into victory against Fulham as Erling Haaland scored a hat trick to maintain the top spot in the 2023/2024 Premier League campaign.
The 2022/2023 treble winners are the only club side with a hundred percent record as they went to the fourth week of the 2023/2024 English Premier League season.
Fulham went into the match following their 2-2 draw against Arsenal last weekend with ten men.
Juanma Lillo was the City coach in the dugout as Pep Guardiola looked forward to a quick recovery from back surgery, having led Man City to a come back victory against Sheffield United during their last match.
Man City defender, Manuel Akanji missed the last outing while Phil Foden was not fit enough to start, but both players were present against the visitors.
The Etihad outfit handed a debut to newly acquired Jeremy Doku for the visit of Fulham.
Doku was an unused sub for the slight victory over Sheffield last time out but he was given his first chance to impress.
Erling Haaland who scored both home and away against Fulham last season was also included in the starting lineup for the Citizens.
Starting lineups
Man City: Ederson, Walker, Dias, Akanji, Ake, Rodri, Kovacic, Foden, Alvarez, Doku, Haaland
Fulham: Leno, Tete, Diop, Ream, Robinson, Cairney, Reed, Andreas Pereira, Wilson, Jimenez, Reid
The match gets underway at 3:00 pm BST at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester with the host looking forward to securing a victory over the North Londoners.
Jeremy Doku started on the right wing with Foden out on the left, Mateo Kovacic and Julian Alvarez were supporting Erling Haaland in the attack, while Akaji played alongside Rodri.
Fulham started on a high note putting pressure on Man City, During the first ten minutes of play, the visitors played a ball that deflected off by Akaji and went out for a corner kick.
The North London team made a quick change in the 15th minute when Tom Cairney picked up an injury and was replaced by Luke Harris.
In the 30th minute of play, Man City got their first breakthrough with a fine finish from Julian Alvarez who was assisted by Haaland and tapped into the net.
Fulham scored immediately and went on levels with the home team via an inexpensive corner. Jimenez turned in the set piece, and Tim Ream tapped in on the goal line.
Towards the end of the first half, Nathan Ake put the Citizens ahead with a header from the corner kick.
The header went through the leg of Akanji who was in an offside position but the referee made the goal stand in favor of Man City.
The first half of the game ended in 45+7 minutes as both teams headed to the dressing room before the second quarter got underway.
Fulham started the second half as they pressed for an equalizer. They had the ball but they couldn’t create any chance as Man City stood firm at the back.
Haaland opened his record in the 58th minute with a lovely ball from Alvarez. He collected the ball and fired it past Fulham goalkeeper Leno into the net.
Fulham created a big chance in the 60th minute. Jimenez did well and Harri scuffed his shot so Ederson could collect. Nearly another goal was conceded just after the Citizens scored.
Just after Man City were given a penalty as Julian Alvarez was brought down, Haaland scored and made it 4-1 in favor of the Etihad outfit.
Fulham made a few changes in search of a miracle but wasn’t enough for the Londoners.
Man City also made a few changes and the officials added four minutes in the stoppage time.
In the 94th minute, Haaland converted another chance from Gomez to complete a hat trick against Fulham.
Haaland was involved in four of the five Man City goals, and City will remain two points clear at the top of the EPL table going into the September international break.
