ON the day when Erling Haaland raised his bat for an historic half-century, it was Manchester City’s ‘other’ centre-forward who propelled the champions to the top of the table with a gem of a winner.
As a World Cup winner with Argentina, Julian Alvarez is not a bad player to have on second fiddle.
Here, as City were given a very decent contest by mid-table Fulham, Alvarez won an early penalty to give Haaland his 50th goal of the season and then netted a swerving, dipping strike of his own.
Haaland’s emphatic third-minute spot-kick made him the first English top-flight player in 92 years to net 50 goals in all competitions in any season – since Pongo Waring of Aston Villa in 1931.
City chalked up an eighth straight Premier League win – and an 18th unbeaten match – to replace Arsenal at the top for the first time since February 18, with a game in hand on the Gunners.
But Fulham, who equalised through Carlos Vinicius, had a proper go at Pep Guardiola’s Treble hunters and felt they should have had a second-half penalty.
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Marco Silva’s side have enjoyed an excellent return to the top flight and have long since been well clear of danger.
And anyone assuming that City would coast through their remaining games were reminded of the competitive nature of this league – as well as the fact that City are not quite as good without Kevin De Bruyne.
The absence of the Belgian, City’s chief creative force, with a minor ‘niggle’, raised optimism among the home support that Fulham might keep the score down.
But with their own best two attacking players, the banned Aleksandar Mitrovic and injured Willian, nobody was expecting much.
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After all, Arsenal had been unable to lay a glove on City in the most one-sided title showdown of all on Wednesday.
It took just three minutes for City to score and for Haaland to complete his half-century.
Fulham skipper Tim Ream stuck out a knee and Alvarez accepted the invitation to tumble over, Simon Hooper pointing to the spot.
Haaland had blazed his previous spot-kick over the bar, at Bayern Munich, and had ceded penalty duties to Riyad Mahrez for last weekend’s FA Cup semi-final against Sheffield United.
But this time the Norwegian rammed his effort low and hard into the corner, giving Bernd Leno no chance.
City had dominated the ball but Fulham had strung a few decent moves together before the shock equaliser arrived on 15 minutes.
Andreas Pereira floated a pass into the box, Harry Wilson provided an adept nod-down and Vinicius, Mitrovic’s unsung understudy, chested it and lashed home left-footed.
The Brazilian centre-forward gets plenty of stick but he has now scored against both Chelsea and City here.
It was the first time in seven games that City had conceded anything other than a consolation goal.
There was a blow for Fulham soon after, though, when Ream slipped and suffered a suspected broken arm.
The 35-year-old American had played every minute of Fulham’s league campaign before he was replaced by Issa Diop.
Jack Grealish, located in space by Haaland’s pass, then had a shot turned on to the bar by Leno.
And City restored their lead eight minutes before the break, through a corking Alvarez effort.
Fed by Mahrez, the Argentine World Cup-winner saw his first shot blocked but then struck a peachy effort which swerved past Leno and dipped beneath the bar.
After being slightly disoriented by the equaliser, City were fully back in their stride now.
Following a passing carousel down the right, Mahrez found Ilkay Gundogan, whose shot was blocked by the legs of Leno.
Early in the second half, Haaland nipped in and shot wide from a Grealish centre, before a powerful Alvarez shot was beaten away by Leno at his near post.
Then a second serious injury for the hosts, when Pereira collided with Manuel Akanji and was carried off on a stretcher with his right leg in a brace.
The arrival of Tom Cairney, though, injected greater attacking threat into Fulham’s midfield and spoon Ederson was spilling a long ball, almost letting in Vinicius, who fell.
While there was contact, the Brazilian had gone looking for it.
There was a better shout for Fulham soon after Walker seemed to pull at Bobby Decordova-Reid but Hooper was having none of it again.
Decordova-Reid drilled one just wide and was then replaced in treble substitution, with Guardiola then sending on Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva.
City negotiated nine minutes of injury-time and now face West Ham at home on Wednesday, as they close in on a fifth title in six seasons.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
