Fulham v Manchester City Live Commentary & Result, 30/4/23, Premier League

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	+/-	PTS	Form
1	MCI Manchester City	38	28	5	5	94	33	+61	89	L D W W W
2	ARS Arsenal	38	26	6	6	88	43	+45	84	W L L W W
3	MUN Manchester United	38	23	6	9	58	43	+15	75	W W W W L
4	NEW Newcastle United	38	19	14	5	68	33	+35	71	D D W D L
5	LIV Liverpool	38	19	10	9	75	47	+28	67	D D W W W
6	BHA Brighton & Hove Albion	38	18	8	12	72	53	+19	62	L D W L W
7	AVL Aston Villa	38	18	7	13	51	46	+5	61	W D W L L
8	TOT Tottenham Hotspur	38	18	6	14	70	63	+7	60	W L L W L
9	BRE Brentford	38	15	14	9	58	46	+12	59	W W W L W
10	FUL Fulham	38	15	7	16	55	53	+2	52	L D W W L
11	CRY Crystal Palace	38	11	12	15	40	49	-9	45	D D W L W
12	CHE Chelsea	38	11	11	16	38	47	-9	44	D L L D W
13	WOL Wolverhampton Wanderers	38	11	8	19	31	58	-27	41	L D L W L
14	WHU West Ham United	38	11	7	20	42	55	-13	40	L W L W L
15	BOU AFC Bournemouth	38	11	6	21	37	71	-34	39	L L L L W
16	NFO Nottingham Forest	38	9	11	18	38	68	-30	38	D W D W L
17	EVE Everton	38	8	12	18	34	57	-23	36	W D L W D
18	LEI Leicester City	38	9	7	22	51	68	-17	34	W D L L D
19	LEE Leeds United	38	7	10	21	48	78	-30	31	L L D L L
20	SOU Southampton	38	6	7	25	36	73	-37	25	D L L L L

City can look fondly down from their Premier League perch then. They'll keep a keen eye on Arsenal's game against Chelsea next week. That's all for now. Goodbye!

City are a point above Arsenal now with a game in hand. After playing catch-up all season, they finally have the advantage. They restricted Fulham to just four shots here. Vinicius' goal was the hosts' only shot on target. Fulham stay 10th, creditable in defeat.

City make it eight Premier League wins in a row to go top of the table! This was a fairly routine win for Guardiola's men in the end. Fulham briefly equalised after Haaland's early penalty, but Alvarez restored the champions' lead before half-time and they never looked like letting it slip again.

90' + 10' FULL-TIME: FULHAM 1-2 MANCHESTER CITY

90' + 9' City force Robinson into conceding one last corner down their right. They take it short, and that's that!

K. Walker

Yellow Card

90' + 8' Walker becomes City's latest player to be booked for timewasting. He won't care a bit.

90' + 7' Grealish sarcastically claps after he is rewarded for Lukic's foul on him. Like all the best teams, City know how to get what they want.

Ederson

Yellow Card

90' + 6' Ederson's booked for taking his sweet time over a goal-kick. City protest, but they know what they're doing.

90' + 5' Grealish is unhappy as he's penalised for bundling over Tete. He has to be careful. He's on a yellow card.

90' + 3' There's no way City are going to let Fulham score again now. Guardiola's men don't look flustered at all.

90' + 1' Fulham aren't particularly threatening to score an equaliser now. City are successfully holding them at arm's length.

89' Silva's the latest player to earn a free-kick as he gets a rise out of Tete. There'll be at least eight added minutes after Pereira's unfortunate injury earlier.

87' Cairney gets a free-kick out of Walker. That doesn't worry City too much. The champions are wisely winding down the clock.

85' Vinicius gets brought down by Rodri. Fulham have been bright all game, but haven't had the quality to trouble City too much.

Bernardo Silva

J. Álvarez

82' Alvarez heads off too. His goal could win this game for City at the moment. On comes Silva in his stead.

P. Foden

R. Mahrez

82' City's first change of this substitution window sees Foden replace Mahrez.

82' Fulham are doing their best to get close to City's goal, but the champions are holding their own for now. They're about to make changes.

80' Gundogan gets back to clear Solomon's powerful cross from the left. Fulham are building momentum.

78' Fulham get a free-kick down their left. From it, Solomon's snap shot from the edge of the box gets closed down.

D. James

B. De Cordova-Reid

76' De Cordova-Reid's shot is his last act of the game. James takes his place on the pitch for Fulham.

S. Lukić

H. Reed

76' Reed's the next Fulham player to make way. On comes Lukic.

M. Solomon

H. Wilson

76' Fulham decide to ring the changes. Solomon replaces Wilson first.

75' City have got things under control, but Fulham are still threatening sporadically. De Cordova-Reid sends a shot swerving high and wide from range.

73' Grealish sends the free-kick towards the far post. Akanji puts it back into the centre and Haaland nods off-target. Akanji keeps the ball alive and Leno claims Rodri's looping header.

72' City earn a free-kick down their right as Diop handles the ball. What can the visitors make of this?

J. Grealish

Yellow Card

70' Grealish is also shown a yellow card for his part in the dispute.

K. Tete

Yellow Card

70' The referee chats with both Tete and Grealish after a clash between the pair. The Fulham player's booked first.

68' Fulham have a minor penalty shout as De Cordova-Reid storms into the box and gets caught by Ederson. The City goalkeeper gets the ball too though.

66' City are playing keep-ball, attracting boos and whistles from the home fans. They're wisely taking the sting out of the game.

64' De Cordova-Reid's caught offside from Cairney's throughball.

62' City's corner ends with Akanji fouling Leno and conceding a free-kick. Fulham have by no means given up hope of an equaliser yet.

60' Cairney twists and turns just outside City's box but can't get through the crowd of opponents. Haaland bludgeons his way up the other end of the pitch and earns City a corner.

T. Cairney

Andreas Pereira

58' Fulham make their second injury-related change of the match. Cairney replaces Pereira, who's carried off but looks conscious at least. A speedy recovery to him.

56' Pereira's still receiving treatment. A stretcher's been brought onto the pitch. This looks bad. Fulham are preparing to make a substitution.

54' Pereira takes a whack in an aerial battle with Akanji, leaving him down in Fulham's half. City's players look concerned. The medical team rush on to check him out.

53' City's corner comes to nothing, but that won't deter them. Alvarez's cross from the right gets cleared.

51' Fulham are pressing higher up the pitch, making it harder for City to play out from the back. It's a little end-to-end, and Alvarez gets loose to force Leno into another stop at his near post. City corner.

49' Fulham clear the resulting City corner. If Silva's men want to get anything out of this game, they can't afford to concede the next goal.

47' The crowd at Craven Cottage breaks into a minute's applause for Fulham fan Lisa Hughes. At the end of it, Grealish finds Haaland in the centre of the box. The Norwegian's low and hard strike is kept out by Leno.

46' Fulham get the second half started. Neither team's seen fit to make changes at half-time.

Grealish played a big part in City's first-half performance, even though he couldn't score. Only Haaland and De Bruyne have been involved in more goals away for home for City this season than the England winger. He's become one of their main men.

City go at half-time with a slender lead thanks to Alvarez's sumptuous strike. The champions have played well overall so far without hitting the heights we all know they can. Fulham will be buoyed by Vinicius' goal though. They're still in this game, without a doubt. More to come!

45' + 6' HALF-TIME: FULHAM 1-2 MANCHESTER CITY

45' + 5' City enjoy one last attack before the break. Haaland, Grealish and Gundogan combine to give the Norwegian a cross from the left of the box. It gets cut out.

45' + 3' City head Fulham's latest corner away. The hosts keep the ball but can't keep the pressure on as their follow-up delivery goes awry.

45' + 2' Fulham are still showing signs of promise before the break. The Cottagers earn a corner down the right as Tete's shot gets blocked. City can't fully clear it, and Stones heads out to concede another.

45' There'll be five minutes of additional time before half-time.

43' Grealish tries in vain to keep an overhit pass in play down by the touchline. City haven't been perfect in this first half.

41' Gundogan slips into the penalty area and shoots from the right of the six-yard box. Leno rushes off his line to make an important block.

40' City's dominance is starting to tell again. Fulham are struggling to escape their own half now.

38' City will rightly think they deserve to be leading before half-time. Fulham haven't had a shot since Vinicius' goal.

R. Mahrez

Assist

36' Mahrez can claim the assist for that goal, but Alvarez created it just as much himself. City are back on top!

J. Álvarez

Goal

36' GOAL! FULHAM 1-2 MANCHESTER CITY! Alvarez restores City's lead with a wonderful goal! The Argentine receives Mahrez's pass, swivels past a challenge and sends a swerving strike into the top-left corner from the right of the D.

34' Grealish is getting plenty of chances down the left. Once again Haaland finds the City winger, whose right-footed curler gets caught by Leno.

32' Akanji's triangular pass frees Grealish down the left. Adarabioyo intercepts and clears the Englishman's cutback from the byline.

31' City probe in Fulham's half as the hosts hold their shape. They've managed to settle things down a little now.

29' Fulham are starting to enjoy more of the ball themselves. The West Londoners have only had 32 per cent of it so far.

27' Grealish almost restores City's lead! Haaland pops the ball over Tete to find the Englishman who goes for the top-right corner with his right foot. Leno makes an excellent diving save to deny him, and City can't smuggle the ball over the line.

26' Haaland bustles his way into the penalty area and can't test Leno from a tight angle down the right.

25' City are still dominating possession. Fulham look threatening on the counter-attack though.

23' Fulham have gained some confidence from their goal. Reed can't control a clever dummy to create a shot on goal.

I. Diop

T. Ream

21' Fulham make an enforced early change. Diop replaces the stricken Ream at centre-back.

21' Ream's helped to his feet by two physios with his right arm in a sling. It's clear he'll play no further part in this game.

19' Alvarez twists past Ream near the byline, leaving the Fulham captain in pain down on the turf. The American's going to need some treatment.

17' City kick things off again, and Leno soon ends up with the ball in his hands again. The champions aren't going to be disheartened by relinquishing their early lead.

H. Wilson

Assist

15' Wilson's awareness to find Vinicius there was great. City were caught out far too easily by Ream's direct pass though.

Carlos Vinícius

Goal

15' GOAL! FULHAM 1-1 MANCHESTER CITY! Vinicius draws Fulham level quickly! Wilson nods Ream's long ball down to the Brazilian, who lashes it past Ederson on the volley! It's a fantastic finish.

14' Haaland turns on the edge of the box and finds Grealish in space wide left. The England winger shoots low first time. Leno drops low to claim the ball.

13' City are back on the attack. Mahrez goes up against Robinson in the box but can't beat the Fulham left-back.

11' Ream picks out Robinson down the left, who manages to fling a cross into City's box. City manage to clear it.

10' More on Haaland's goal. That was his 50th goal of the season overall, more than seven Premier League clubs have scored in all competitions this term. The man's scary.

8' Mahrez is caught offside as Alvarez looks to find him with a switch of play. City have started this game with their usual metronomic menace.

6' City waste no time in looking for another goal. The visitors attack down their right. Fulham are able to clear this time, but this could be a long game for them.

4' That's Haaland's 34th Premier League goal of the season, equalling Andrew Cole and Alan Shearer's records. Both were set in 42-game campaigns. The 22-year-old is going to blow that record out of the water by the end of May.

E. Haaland

Penalty Goal

3' GOAL! FULHAM 0-1 MANCHESTER CITY! Haaland steps up and smashes the penalty low into the bottom-right corner. Leno has no chance of saving it. What a monstrously good striker the Norwegian is.

2' PENALTY FOR CITY! The champions don't take long to settle into their rhythm, and Ream hauls down Alvarez in the penalty area. The referee Simon Hooper wastes no time in pointing to the spot!

1' City get this match underway at a lively Craven Cottage!

City will be confident of making it eight league wins in a row here. They've won their last 13 meetings with Fulham in all competitions, including their last 10 in the Premier League. The West Londoners' last league win over City was a 3-1 away win in 2009. Can they do Arsenal a favour?

There are two changes to City's starting lineup too from their bludgeoning of Arsenal. In come Mahrez and Alvarez. Kevin De Bruyne doesn't make the matchday squad.

Marco Silva makes two changes to Fulham from their 1-0 loss away to Aston Villa. De Cordova-Reid and Vinicius replace Solomon and James.

SUBS: Aymeric Laporte, Kalvin Phillips, Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden, Sergio Gomez, Scott Carson, Rico Lewis, Maximo Perrone, Stefan Ortega Moreno.

MANCHESTER CITY (3-2-4-1): Ederson; Kyle Walker, Ruben Dias, Manuel Akanji; John Stones, Rodri; Riyad Mahrez, Julian Alvarez, Ilkay Gundogan (c), Jack Grealish; Erling Haaland.

SUBS: Marek Rodak, Daniel James, Sasa Lukic, Cedric Soares, Issa Diop, Shane Duffy, Manor Solomon, Tom Cairney, Neeskens Kebano.

FULHAM (4-2-3-1): Bernd Leno; Kenny Tete, Tosin Adarabioyo, Tim Ream (c), Antonee Robinson; Harrison Reed, Joao Palhinha; Harry Wilson, Andreas Pereira, Bobby De Cordova-Reid; Carlos Vinicius.

City's hosts here are Fulham who are still on track for a top-half finish. The Cottagers have suffered a dip in form lately, losing five of their last seven Premier League games, but they're still good enough to cause the defending champions problems. City still have to work for a third consecutive league title.

City's emphatic 4-1 victory over Arsenal midweek means a win here would take them to the top of the Premier League for the first time since February. Pep Guardiola's men have won their last seven league games in a row now. If they can get settled in top spot, it's hard to see them giving it up.

Hello and welcome to our live text commentary of this Premier League match between Fulham and Manchester City at Craven Cottage.

Fulham v Manchester City Live Commentary, 30/4/23

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