Fulham well beaten by ruthless Man City
Fulham’s recent revival came to an abrupt end at Craven Cottage.
Premier League leaders Manchester City maintained their surge towards the title with three second-half goals by John Stones, Gabriel Jesus and a penalty by Sergio Aguero to sink any hopes the Whites had of securing a valuable point in their battle against relegation.
Fulham remain 18th and in the relegation zone, one place behind Brighton.
With virtually a full squad to choose from, Fulham head coach Scott Parker was hoping to build on the confidence in the ranks after the stunning 1-0 victory at Liverpool last week. However, the Whites were, naturally, anticipating a formidable task against the clear league leaders.
Fulham were organised from the start but neither side were able to carve out any obvious scoring opportunities, with the hosts initially defending well against City’s sharp strike force of Jesus and Aguero.
City – beginning to dominate possession – went close in 33 minutes when Bernardo Silva slipped past Ola Aina inside the penalty area, but the midfielder’s low left foot shot was well smothered by keeper Alphonse Areola.
It proved to be the best chance in an otherwise flat first half, with Areola also denying Aguero from an acute angle.
The visitors, though, stunned Fulham only two minutes after the interval with the breakthrough.
Silva flighted in a dangerous-looking free-kick from the left and the impressive Stones was first to react to stab the ball home with ease from around six yards out.
City midfielder Rodri then stung the hands of Areola with a crisp drive from the edge of the penalty area with Fulham still coming to terms with going a goal behind.
And it was a mark of how clinical Pep Guardiola’s side have been all season when they doubled their lead in the 55th minute.
Jesus worked diligently to skip between Joachim Andersen and Ivan Cavaleiro inside the box, before rounding Areola to slam the ball into the exposed net.
Five minutes later City demonstrated their undoubted ruthlessness by making it 3-0 from the spot to make matters comfortable.
Tosin Adarabioyo needlessly bundled over Ferran Torres in what was an obvious foul – and Aguero subsequently made no mistake, driving low into the left-hand corner of the net from 12 yards.
Fulham struggled to test City keeper Ederson throughout and were, ultimately, outclassed. Parker must now refocus his side towards their next game, at home to Leeds United on Friday.
Fulham: Areola, Aina, Tete, Adarabioyo, Andersen, Lemina (Onomah 72), Reed, Zambo-Anguissa, Loftus-Cheek (Mitrovic 63), Cavaleiro (Robinson 83), Lookman
