Sports
City hang on to win Premier League classic
Manchester City cut Arsenal’s lead at the top of the Premier League to just two points after hanging on to win a classic at Fulham, as Erling Haaland broke yet another record.
The Gunners will have the chance to respond when they face Brentford on Wednesday but Pep Guardiola’s side showed enough – in attack, anyway – to confirm that we do indeed have a title race on our hands this season.
They raced into a 5-1 lead at Craven Cottage but then shut off and in the end were hanging on for three vital points.
Haaland became the fastest player to reach 100 Premier League goals as he put City ahead, reaching his century on his 111th appearance, beating Alan Shearer’s long-standing mark of 124 games. The Norway striker is the 35th player to join the 100 club.
Haaland should have put City ahead inside six minutes after being played through on goal but hit the inside of a post when he looked certain to score.
The 25-year-old then smashed the opener in the driving London rain with a beauty for his 15th league strike of the season, meeting Jeremy Doku’s low cross from wide on the left with a fizzing left-footed shot.
City were finding their feet and made it two before the break with another fine goal. Haaland was the provider this time, rolling his man before playing in Tijjani Reijnders, who finished past Bernd Leno with a lovely chip for his first goal since his debut.
Foden, back to his best form in recent weeks, made it three when Leno’s frail punch out from a corner was collected and hammered back in left-footed.
City were purring but switched off for Emile Smith-Rowe to cut the deficit in first-half stoppage time with a wonderful deft header past Gigi Donnarumma from an improbable angle.
But Foden took just three minutes of the second half to make it 4-1, firing in at the near post after Haaland had helped on another low cross from Doku.
Doku was involved in everything and hit a curling effort that deflected high over the hapless Leno and into the corner – a strike that was credited as a Sander Berge own goal.
It was the earliest ever that Fulham have conceded five times in a Premier League game but they reacted straight away to pull one back, Alex Iwobi hitting an excellent curling shot home from the edge of the box.
Haaland headed against the post and Fulham made it 5-3 moments later when substitute Samuel Chukwueze lashed in a loose ball on the half volley.
Chukwueze then repeated the trick from another half-cleared cross in the 78th minute to scuff a shot across goal and in to make it 5-4.
It has been 12 years since a Premier League match saw 10 goals scored and despite Fulham’s best efforts in eight added minutes they were not able to force a leveller.
