Sergio Aguero scored his first Premier League goal since January 2020 as Manchester City extended their lead at the top of the Premier League with a win at struggling Fulham.
The result sees Pep Guardiola’s side move 17 points clear at the summit, with second-placed Manchester United having two games in hand.
For the Cottagers it represents a dent to their survival hopes after they missed the opportunity to move out of the bottom three, which is compounded by the fact they have played more games than both Brighton and Newcastle – the sides directly above them.
It had looked like being a tight affair, with Fulham testing a much-changed City side during a relatively even first period.
However, John Stones tapped in Joao Cancelo’s free-kick two minutes after the break before Gabriel Jesus benefited from some shoddy defending to round home goalkeeper Alphonse Areola for the second.
And with the game under control, Aguero rounded off the scoring with a penalty after Tosin Adarabioyo had fouled Ferran Torres.
While Fulham manager Scott Parker chose to begin without a recognised centre-forward, there were also surprises in the City starting XI.
Guardiola elected to field a three-man defence while Jesus and Aguero were deployed in tandem up front for the first time since February 2020.
If it was designed to give a City side missing the creativity of Raheem Sterling, Kevin de Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan some incisiveness in attack, it did not initially seem to have worked.
A Torres snapshot and Bernardo Silva’s low effort after a jinking run were the highlights of a first-half performance lacking cohesion.
Aguero, the fourth-highest scorer in Premier League history, also had an inauspicious start to the evening, touching the ball on fewer occasions than both goalkeepers in the first half.
But after the break it all changed, as much by good fortune as design.
Cancelo’s curling free-kick saw Stones dart through a static Fulham defence to prod home, before Joachim Andersen’s clearance ricocheted off Ivan Cavaleiro to send Jesus through for a simple second and Aguero had the final word.
“For him goals are everything, Gabriel [Jesus] too,” Guardiola said of Aguero.
“Everybody wants to jump on the bus – he is more than welcome! It was so important his goal – he played 90 minutes for the first time in a long time.” (BBC)