Match Report & Player Ratings: Fulham 4-5 Manchester City (Premier League) | OneFootball

Manchester City got the better of Fulham in a nine-goal thriller at Craven Cottage to win 4-5 on the road on Tuesday night.

Goals from Erling Haaland, Tijjani Reijnders, Phil Foden, and a deflected Jeremy Doku effort allowed Pep Guardiola’s side to edge out Marco Silva’s men in a thrilling contest.

City controlled the opening period and got their first chance after six minutes when Haaland hit the inside of the post after being set through on goal by Foden. The Norwegian was looking for his 100th Premier League goal to become the quickest player ever to reach the goal tally. 

11 minutes later and Haaland did have that goal as City knocked the ball around in the final third to find Jeremy Doku on the left, who excellently played a low cross to the Norwegian in the middle to smash home for the opening goal.

That became the striker’s 100th Premier League goal in 111 appearances, making him the fastest player to reach that tally, with the record previously held by the legendary Alan Shearer and his 100 goals in 124 appearances.  

The Blues relieved some following Fulham pressure by gaining a two-goal lead through Tijjani Reijnders, scoring for the first time since the first match of the season. The Dutchman made an Ilkay Gundogan-esque run through the middle, after some exceptional hold-up play by Haaland to send Reijnders one against one with the goalkeeper, chipping Leno in the process.

City were running riot in West London as they got a third just before half-time through some brilliance from Phil Foden. Reijnders’ corner was punched away by Leno to the Englishman on the edge of the penalty area, taking a touch and shifting the ball onto his special left boot and unleashing an inch-perfect strike into the far top corner.  

The Blues looked like they had got the job done and dusted in the first-half but some hope came Fulham’s way when Emile Smith Rowe’s excellent header got a goal back for the Cottagers.

City got straight back onto the front-foot early in the second-half, with Foden getting his fourth goal in two games when Jeremy Doku’s switch of play took a knick off Haaland, helping it’s way to the Stockport-born playmaker, who powered the ball past Leno at the near post.

Six minutes later and City got a fifth with Doku sending a deflected effort into the back of the net, in a strike that would be later credited as a Sander Berge own goal. However, by the 57th minute, it was raining goals as Fulham got another back to make it 2-5 with Alex Iwobi striking from range to add a third goal in just nine minutes.

Fulham started to put their comeback together when Samuel Chukwueze volleyed the ball past Gianluigi Donnarumma to make it 3-5 with 17 minutes to go after a lengthy VAR review for a potential offside in the build-up.

With the Fulham crowd starting to believe, Chukwueze got his second in almost identical fashion, arrowing a shot into the bottom right corner past Donnarumma once again making the game 4-5 and setting up an enthralling last 12 minutes.

Josko Gvardiol made a breathtaking goal line clearance to keep Manchester City’s lead and all but secure the win for the Blues, as City went on to hold out to hold on to a one-goal lead and come away from London with all three points.

Here are our complete Player Ratings of Manchester City’s players from an eventful night in the capital!

Player Ratings

Gianluigi Donnarumma – 6

Harsh rating but feels challenging to give a better rating for conceding four goals. Fulham were clinical and Gianluigi Donnarumma, to be fair to him, made an excellent save at 0-1 to deny Emile Smith Rowe 

Matheus Nunes – 5.5

Good in spells arguably but at fault for Fulham’s first goal by failing to get the ball under control in the build-up.

Ruben Dias – 5.5

Not great from Ruben Dias all round, failing to organise the team well enough hence why Fulham were able to be prolific in attack themselves.

Josko Gvardiol – 7

Same reasoning as his centre-back partner really, and he has had a few poor games as of late. His rating is obviously boosted by the last-minute, goal-saving, match-winning clearance off the goal-line.

Nico O’Reilly – 5

A rare poor performance from Nico O’Reilly, who has really made a name for himself this season. Harsh rating but his quality is undoubted so he will be back to his best. 

Nico Gonzalez – 6.5

Made a key block to deny Fulham a goal in the second-half, dictated play well but was perhaps oddly substituted in the 60th minute for John Stones. 

Bernardo Silva – 6

Didn’t add much to the game at all but wasn’t costly in the game, either. The ball ricocheted off him for Fulham’s second goal but not much he could do. 

Tijjani Reijnders – 7

Scored his first goal since Wolves away in the first match of the season and did very well in midfield. 

Phil Foden – 9 (POTM)

A vintage Phil Foden performance who looks to be getting back to his best, getting his fourth goal in two games and scoring an excellent goal for his first of two. 

Erling Haaland – 8

He got his 100th Premier League goal for another record-breaking moment for the Norwegian, and was fairly unlucky to hit the post twice in the match, as he could have easily had a hat-trick in this one.

Jeremy Doku – 7.5

A goal – albeit later credited as an own goal – and an assist to mark a brilliant performance once again from the Belgian winger, as the 23-year-old adds end product to his game.

Substitutes

John Stones – 6

Not that much of it was his fault but Manchester City conceded two goals when he was subbed on, but the Englishman was key to ensuring his side got the win.

Savinho – 5.5

Put a good deflected cross into Erling Haaland in the 70th minute, who hit the post with his header, but was poor when going forward in other phases of play.

Rayan Cherki – 5

Didn’t add a lot in attack and needlessly received a yellow card for kicking the ball away.

Nathan Ake – No time to mark

Was brought on with a minute to go, most likely to slow the game down and assure Manchester City of the win.