Five Things Learned: Manchester City 3-0 Fulham (Premier League) | OneFootball

Manchester City cut Arsenal’s lead at the top of the Premier League to just three points with a professional win over Fulham, ahead of the Gunners’ trip to Brentford.

Pep Guardiola’s men came into Wednesday’s game at the Etihad Stadium off the back of a scintillating comeback win against Liverpool away to Anfield. Looking to get off to a fast start, it was all City from the get-go, with multiple chances falling the way of the home side.

The pressure finally gave as Antoine Semenyo’s tight finish broke the deadlock just before the 25-minute mark. Soon after, the Ghana international turned provider as he assisted Nico O’Reilly, who doubled the lead with an angled shot.

Erling Haaland clinically put away a third to put his side in full control of the game as Fulham once again buckled under the pressure. The second half saw City continue to keep their visitors at arm’s length despite not adding to their impressive lead from the first 45 minutes.

Here are Five Things We Learned from Manchester City’s midweek victory over Fulham!

City smell blood

It was only a week and a half ago that many were ruling Manchester City out of this Premier League title race, having disappointingly squandered a two-goal lead to Tottenham in North London.

This came after a long run of poor results to start the new calendar year, including several draws and a painful defeat away to rivals Manchester United. Yet, after Wednesday’s win, City find themselves just three points from Arsenal – who do, of course, have a game in hand.

The professionalism against Fulham, coupled with the gritty determination versus Liverpool, shows this current squad are more than willing and capable of challenging for the Premier League crown.

Manchester City are in hot pursuit of their clear title challengers, and if recent history is anything to go by, the Gunners should be very worried about the threat they face from behind at this stage of the season.

Water needed, Semenyo is on fire

It is hard to remember a signing which has taken to life at the Etihad Stadium and Manchester City as quickly and as well as Antoine Semenyo in recent years, barring perhaps Erling Haaland.

The Ghana international was on red-hot form already this season for Bournemouth before making the switch up north, and once again proved his weight in gold on Wednesday, breaking the deadlock with a great finish before setting Nico O’Reilly up for the second.

With as many as five goals and an assist in his short time so far at Manchester City, the prolific winger will undoubtedly be one of the main reasons should his side prove victorious come May.

Confidence… at last

As mentioned, Manchester City have had some patchy results since the turn of the year, with several unwanted Premier League draws and a lifeless derby day loss, accompanying their defeat to Bodo/Glimt in the UEFA Champions League.

In these games and even the wins over Wolves and Liverpool, Pep Guardiola’s side never looked completely in control. It seems a long time since City looked dominant and controlling throughout a league match – like the golden days of the Catalan’s reign and six division titles.

The Citizens looked back to their very best at times on Wednesday evening, keeping Fulham largely at bay and confidently putting away the goals with no reply, with Guardiola telling reporters after the game that it was one of their best performances of the season.

It is incredibly refreshing to see this confidence flowing through sky blue veins once more, and you have to wonder just how much that win at Liverpool at Anfield has helped settle the nerves and aided confidence.

Welcome back, Ruben Dias!

Although he did play some minutes off the bench in Manchester City’s iconic victory on Merseyside last weekend, it was still great to see Ruben Dias back in the starting line-up for the club off the back of his injury lay-off.

Having picked up a nasty hamstring issue against Chelsea at the start of the calendar year, his absence has been felt in the weeks following, especially given Josko Gvardiol’s prolonged leave due to a leg bone fracture.

It is true that Marc Guehi has settled in well and Abdukodir Khusanov is continuing to develop into a fantastic young defender, but Ruben Dias’ leadership qualities have been missing from the side.

Returning to Pep Guardiola’s starting squad, the Portugal international looked like he had never left, and this is exactly what Manchester City need if the club is to take Arsenal all the way.

Happy hunting versus Fulham

Manchester City have their fair share of so-called bogey teams across the Premier League, with Tottenham Hotspur being the outlier and giving nightmares to most sky blue fans following recent battles.

Yet the Citizens themselves, of course, pose a problem to other teams. But arguably, few have been tormented as much as Fulham over the years – with their last victory in any competition against City back in 2009.

The Cottagers are currently on an unwanted 20-game losing streak, and Wednesday night followed the script as Pep Guardiola’s side strolled to a confident victory against Fulham yet again.