Manchester City 3 Fulham 0
Chris Baird endured a miserable game as two early goals helped the Premier League leaders comfortably beat Fulham at Eastlands.
Baird conceded a penalty and then scored an own goal to leave the Whites two down after half an hour.
The luckless defender was adjudged to have tripped Adam Johnson, and striker Sergio Aguero converted the resulting spot-kick to put Manchester City ahead.
And shortly after City might have had another penalty when Dickson Etuhu brought down David Silva, Baird turned Johnson’s cross-shot beyond his own goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer.
Play had to be halted twice to allow ground staff to clear snow from areas of the pitch, before Edin Dzeko added a third.
Aguero was the creator, picking up the ball on the left and then breezing past an injured Philippe Senderos before finding Dzeko, who fired home from 10 yards out.
Fulham were outplayed but made a decent start to the second half and appealed in vain for a penalty when Clint Dempsey’s strike appeared to hit Joleon Lescott’s arm.
They also came close to pulling a goal back when Bryan Ruiz’s delivery ricocheted off Lescott and onto the post, before City keeper Joe Hart did well to keep out a Baird free-kick.
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This post was last modified on 04/02/2012