Substitute Erling Haaland scored an injury-time winner from the penalty spot to give 10-man Manchester City victory over Fulham and send the defending champions top of the table.
The importance of his 95th-minute strike was underlined moments later when Haaland was embraced by his manager Pep Guardiola at the final whistle, and joined his team-mates on a lap of honour.
What appeared as though it would be a frustrating and potentially costly afternoon in City’s pursuit of a third-successive title, instead ended with a memorable victory thanks to Haaland’s 18th league goal of his dazzling start to his career at Etihad Stadium.
All seemed to be going according to plan for Guardiola’s side early on, as they took the lead through Julian Alvarez’s powerful finish and pressed forward looking for more goals.
But the anticipated march to a seventh successive home win this season did not transpire. Instead the game took an unexpected turn just before the the half-hour mark when Joao Cancelo muscled Fulham forward Harry Wilson off the ball in the box.
Referee Darren England pointed to the spot and showed Cancelo the red card, to the disbelief of Guardiola and his players, before Andreas Pereira sent Ederson the wrong way from the spot.
That was Fulham’s first effort at goal and they rarely threatened afterwards either, even with the extra man, instead being content to sit deep and frustrate their hosts.
It initially appeared they would be successful, even when Haaland came off the bench in the second half after two games out injured.
Haaland thought he had scored the winner when he headed home a Kevin de Bruyne cross with 15 minutes to go, but the home side’s celebrations were cut short when VAR showed he was offside.
City’s attacks grew increasingly frantic towards the end and Haaland got no closer to finding the net, until Antonee Robinson tripped De Bruyne inside the area in injury time.
Haaland – who else? – stepped up to fire his penalty into the bottom corner, despite the best efforts of Bernd Leno, and spark wild celebrations from his team-mates, manager and in the stands.
Haaland comes off the bench to save the day
City have now won all seven of their home league games this season, but they have never left it as late as this to secure victory.
Their frustration at the way this game was panning out was demonstrated by Bernardo Silva’s outburst at England before half-time when the referee failed to book Wilson for a foul – which earned Silva a booking instead.
The clamour for Haaland’s introduction grew as the second half went on, with City dominating possession but failing to find a way through Fulham’s massed defence.
Haaland and Phil Foden were both introduced on their rescue mission in the 63rd minute but it appeared they would find it just as difficult to make the breakthrough.
Haaland’s first effort was an air-shot as he completely missed Ilkay Gundogan’s knockdown and his second flew a mile wide, although in his defence he was at full stretch to reach a John Stones cross at the far post.
His disallowed goal appeared likely to be a part of the story of two points dropped for his side, but City kept coming forward and finally got their reward right at the end of the game.
Fulham will feel hard done by
Fulham came within seconds of claiming what would have been a draw that few people gave them a chance of getting at kick-off.
Their prospects had hardly been helped by a late ankle injury to top scorer Aleksandar Mitrovic, which ruled the Serb out of their squad.
Not for the first time this season, however, Marco Silva’s side exceeded expectations. Their penalty and Cancelo’s red card were a huge help of course, but Silva stuck to the same plan to keep his team compact and hit City on the break even when it was 11 men vs 10.
The four-game unbeaten run that had taken the Cottagers up to seventh in the table is over, but the spirit and organisation that Silva’s side showed in the second half bodes well for tests to come.
Player of the match
Andreas PereiraAndreas Pereira
Manchester City
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Squad number9Player nameHaalandAverage rating
6.91
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Squad number3Player nameRúben DiasAverage rating
6.69
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Squad number17Player nameDe BruyneAverage rating
6.68
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Squad number47Player nameFodenAverage rating
6.26
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Squad number19Player nameÁlvarezAverage rating
6.26
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Squad number20Player nameBernardo SilvaAverage rating
6.03
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Squad number8Player nameGündoganAverage rating
5.77
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Squad number16Player nameRodriAverage rating
5.71
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Squad number5Player nameStonesAverage rating
5.71
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Squad number31Player nameEdersonAverage rating
5.66
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Squad number25Player nameAkanjiAverage rating
5.62
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Squad number6Player nameAkéAverage rating
5.49
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Squad number10Player nameGrealishAverage rating
5.24
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Squad number7Player nameJoão CanceloAverage rating
4.40
Fulham
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Squad number18Player nameAndreas PereiraAverage rating
7.33
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Squad number8Player nameWilsonAverage rating
7.12
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Squad number26Player nameJoão Palhinha
Average rating6.96
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Squad number17Player nameLeno
Average rating6.93
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Squad number6Player nameReed
Average rating6.89
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Squad number20Player nameWillian
Average rating6.85
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Squad number30Player nameCarlos Vinícius
Average rating6.75
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Squad number31Player nameDiop
Average rating6.74
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Squad number13Player nameReam
Average rating6.71
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Squad number2Player nameTete
Average rating6.70
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Squad number33Player nameRobinson
Average rating6.63
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Squad number10Player nameCairney
Average rating6.42
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Squad number21Player nameJames
Average rating6.35
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Squad number27Player nameMbabu
Average rating6.23
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Squad number38Player nameHarris
Average rating6.08
Line-ups
Man City
Formation 4-3-3
- 31Ederson
- 5Stones
- 25Akanji
- 6Aké
- 7CanceloBooked at 26mins
- 17De Bruyne
- 16Rodri
- 8GündoganSubstituted forRúben Diasat 90+7′minutes
- 20Bernardo SilvaBooked at 45mins
- 19ÁlvarezSubstituted forHaalandat 64′minutesBooked at 90mins
- 10GrealishSubstituted forFodenat 64′minutes
Substitutes
- 3Rúben Dias
- 9Haaland
- 14Laporte
- 18Ortega
- 21Gómez
- 26Mahrez
- 47Foden
- 80Palmer
- 82Lewis
Fulham
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 17Leno
- 2TeteBooked at 63mins
- 31Diop
- 13Ream
- 33RobinsonBooked at 90mins
- 6ReedBooked at 45mins
- 26João Palhinha
- 8WilsonSubstituted forJamesat 76′minutes
- 18PereiraBooked at 7minsSubstituted forHarrisat 88′minutes
- 20WillianSubstituted forMbabuat 80′minutes
- 30Alves MoraisSubstituted forCairneyat 76′minutes
Substitutes
- 1Rodák
- 3Kurzawa
- 4Tosin
- 5Duffy
- 10Cairney
- 21James
- 25Onomah
- 27Mbabu
- 38Harris
- Referee:
- Darren England
Match Stats
Live Text
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Match ends, Manchester City 2, Fulham 1.
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Second Half ends, Manchester City 2, Fulham 1.
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Erling Haaland (Manchester City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Kenny Tete (Fulham).
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Attempt blocked. Issa Diop (Fulham) header from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Tom Cairney with a cross.
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Erling Haaland (Manchester City) is shown the yellow card for excessive celebration.
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Substitution, Manchester City. Rúben Dias replaces Ilkay Gündogan.
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Goal! Manchester City 2, Fulham 1. Erling Haaland (Manchester City) converts the penalty with a left footed shot to the bottom left corner.
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Penalty Manchester City. Kevin De Bruyne draws a foul in the penalty area.
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Penalty conceded by Antonee Robinson (Fulham) after a foul in the penalty area.
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Antonee Robinson (Fulham) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
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Corner, Manchester City. Conceded by Tim Ream.
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Attempt blocked. Erling Haaland (Manchester City) header from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Kevin De Bruyne with a cross.
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Substitution, Fulham. Luke Harris replaces Andreas Pereira.
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Foul by Manuel Akanji (Manchester City).
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Daniel James (Fulham) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Attempt blocked. Erling Haaland (Manchester City) right footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Kevin De Bruyne with a through ball.
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Substitution, Fulham. Kevin Mbabu replaces Willian.
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Substitution, Fulham. Tom Cairney replaces Carlos Vinícius.
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Substitution, Fulham. Daniel James replaces Harry Wilson because of an injury.
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