Manchester City prevailed in a nine-goal feast at Fulham with the kind of attacking display that would normally make their title rivals tremble.
Unfortunately for Pep Guardiola’s side, City’s defensive performance will have made these same rivals sigh with relief.
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City led 5-1 at the start of the second half after a 100th Premier League goal for Erling Haaland, a double from Phil Foden, one from Tijjani Reijnders and an own goal from Sander Berge. They seemed headed for victory by a nice margin.
But Fulham, led by substitute Samuel Chukwueze, hit back with three unanswered goals and even saw a shot cleared off the line in stoppage time as they were on the verge of one of the great comebacks.
City were on the ropes and were about to absorb shots as they held on for the points.
“I was about to score and then they scored 5-3, so that’s football, that’s the beauty of football,” Haaland said.
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“That’s why we love this game.”
The powerful Norwegian’s feat of reaching 100 goals in 111 Premier League appearances is the fastest century he has achieved in the competition, and he also contributed with two assists.
But City went from a team that looked capable of continuing to score, to a side almost begging for the final whistle.
Guardiola then joked: “I’m so old and the players don’t respect me! They don’t have to treat their manager that way.
“That only happens in this league.”
Holding on, victory put City within two points of leaders Arsenal, although they knew that gap would increase again to five if Mikel Arteta’s side won their game in hand against Brentford on Wednesday.
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The statistics behind a crazy encounter
Manchester City’s win at Fulham was a great watch for the neutrals, with the stats highlighting what a thriller – and unusual result – it was:
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It was Fulham’s first game in the top flight with nine or more goals since a 7–2 defeat at West Ham in February 1968, and their first at home since a 6–3 defeat to Aston Villa in September 1965.
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It was the 41st time in 356 Premier League matches under Pep Guardiola that Manchester City had scored at least five goals.
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It was the first time City had won a league match in which they had conceded as many as four goals since December 1957 – a 5-4 victory over Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough.
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This was the sixth Premier League match involving Manchester City to see at least nine goals scored, with only Manchester United (seven) being involved in more.
How concerning is Man City’s defense?
While it was a match that certainly delivered on its promise in terms of entertainment, Manchester City fans will have understood that there is a need for improvement at the back if Guardiola’s side are to truly challenge leaders Arsenal.
City’s attacking strength is not in question – their first four shots on target resulted in goals in this game, while Haaland and Foden are both in the kind of form this season that will force almost any Premier League team to struggle to stop them.
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But while their play going forward has certainly been worthy of title winners, their defense is far behind.
Arsenal have conceded just seven goals in 13 Premier League games, but City have conceded more than double with 16 in just 14 games.
It is rare that City, in a title-winning campaign, have conceded so many at this stage of the season, which has happened once – 2023-24 – in Guardiola’s six title-winning seasons in the Premier League.
“You can’t expect to win the Premier League when you defend like that,” former Premier League striker Clinton Morrison told BBC Radio 5 Live.
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“There is a problem with Manchester City defensively. I have said it all season, we know they can score goals no matter how they go forward, but defensively they need to be better.
“They need to be better defensively because you would never see Arsenal lead 5-1 and finish like that, so they need to sort that out.”
Guardiola ‘worried’ but can see positives
Manchester City have conceded 10 goals in their last four games in all competitions, but in the previous four games they have only conceded three.
This will give Guardiola hope that recent defensive weaknesses can be corrected, and the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich head coach even believes the recent problem at the back could help his team by focusing minds.
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“Of course I was worried (Fulham could come back), but it will help us in the next games,” Guardiola said.
“Every game is a new team for certain players. You have to do a process to start correcting.
“There were some really positive things in what we did: coming here, scoring five goals and the way we played in the first half.
“At the end of the day, it was about character, resilience and defense. They did what they had to do.”
