Leroy Sane returns in style as Manchester City move up a gear to brush aside Fulham
Manchester City 3-0 Fulham: The hosts were at their irrepressible best as they completely outplayed and outclassed Slavisa Jokanovic's side
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.It has taken a little time but Pep Guardiola's marvellous Manchester City machine moved up a gear as they engineered a victory of such dominance that even the opposition manager was left bewildered and well beaten.
Leroy Sane marked his return to the side with the opener before David Silva and Raheem Sterling confirmed a resounding victory.
After one of their 28 shots on goal, Fulham manager Slavisa Jokanovic turned to his bench and shrugged his shoulders.
It was as if to say, how do you stop the seemingly unstoppable?
Using the match programme to deliver a message to the supporters, City owner Sheikh Mansour had said the Premier League champions were 'halfway up our Everest' with a desire for greater success.
Here, it was Fulham who had the greater mountain to climb when they fell behind with just 98 seconds on the clock.
There seemed little indication of a threat when keeper Marcus Bettinelli played a clearance out to Jean Michel Serri on the right. The midfielder was slack and slow with an intended pass to Denis Odoi and suffered as Fernandinho nipped in, drove forward and crossed low for the unmarked Sane to tap into the empty net.
It was the German's first start of a season riddled by uncertainty following his heroics and PFA Young Player of the Year award in the previous campaign - and subsequent omission from his country's World Cup squad.
With questions raised about his attitude, coinciding with the recent birth of his daughter, Sane had much to do to justify Guardiola's faith.
This was a big step towards that and the way he effortlessly rolled in the opener was daddy cool.
Heartened by that stunning start, City turned on the style with no one more influential than Bernardo Silva, a princely presence in the heart of midfield.
Cunning and clever, he provided the class that should have produced another goal for Sterling in the 15th minute.
Collecting a ball on his chest, a series of impudent touches and flicks followed before he released his team-mate with a delicious left-foot pass.
Sterling raced clear, but again showed evidence of hesitancy as he allowed Bettinelli to advance and tried to drive a finish through the visiting keeper. A strong touch from Bettinelli was enough to divert the ball onto the bar.
Six minutes later, though, City did get a second to confirm their superiority.
Bernardo, again, was involved, taking a Sterling pass, turning Alfie Mawson and teeing up Sergio Aguero for a shot blocked by Odoi. The other Silva, David, pounced, taking the ball on his chest before slamming into the net for a goal to mark his 350th appearance for the club.
Fulham, without a clean sheet in their previous 20 top-flight games, were defensively vulnerable and restricted to long-range shots in attack.
Three came from Andre Schurrle, the first on target in the 30th minute before Ederson's vital touch denied the German's curling effort.
That scare seemed to awaken City from the slumber induced by their period of control.
Sane teased Cyrus Christie on the left before firing against the legs of Bettinelli while Sterling produced similar good work on the opposite side only to see his shot pushed away.
The break afforded the Cottagers a respite that lasted little more than a minute when Aguero found space on the right and crossed for Sterling, unmarked and unchallenged, to tap in a third goal in four league games.
Having lost 5-0 on their last appearance at the Etihad in 2014, Fulham dug deep to avoid similar humiliation.
Bernardo should have sealed a performance full of poise with a goal, but slashed horribly wide when set up by Gabriel Jesus.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments