Harry Wilson let out a huge sigh as he took his place on the Fulham bench, his cheeks a rosy red after spending the previous 72 minutes chasing shadows on the sodden turf of the Etihad Stadium.
The Fulham winger said little to his team-mates, choosing instead to cross his arms and sport a look of futility. He was probably thinking: how can anyone stop Manchester City when they play like this, particularly in the first half?
If Arsenal’s players were watching on the eve of their match against Brentford, they were probably thinking the same.
Pep Guardiola threatened to be breathing down Arsenal’s necks on Sunday after his team’s win over Liverpool and he is living up to that promise. Just three points separate the two teams in this title race and this performance, before they eased off in the second half, suggests Guardiola is starting to believe that a seventh Premier League title may be within his grasp.
There are still plenty of games to go, of course, but the way in which City put three goals past Fulham in the space of 15 first-half minutes certainly augurs well.
Other than Erling Haaland’s half-time withdrawal, due to what Guardiola described as “niggles”, everything went to plan for City. “He said, “I don’t feel comfortable,” and with the score at 3-0, it was common sense [to take him off],” Guardiola explained.
Haaland scored his 42nd goal for club and country this season and Antoine Semenyo added his third in the Premier League for City in between the pick of the goals, a lovely passing move that ended with the most delicate of chips from man of the match, Nico O’Reilly.
Semenyo pokes home for the opener, his third goal in five Premier League appearances for City
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The only shame was that the Etihad was not full to the brim to see it. There were clusters of empty seats in certain areas of the stadium.
Those fans who were present heeded Guardiola’s call to bring the noise early on, and the players fed off that energy. City had five shots in the opening ten minutes, although one of them, from Rodri, went out for a throw-in. He is human after all. O’Reilly’s first shot sailed into the stands, causing Guardiola to curse.
Despite their wayward shooting, it was clear that City meant business. Haaland, the fire in his eyes, as Guardiola said on Tuesday, pressured Calvin Bassey into passing the ball out of play.
Fulham folded into a 4-5-1 formation out of possession, but as soon as they gained the ball, they countered in numbers. On one such attack, Samuel Chukwueze played a deft ball into the area for Alex Iwobi, but Rúben Dias slid in to block his shot.
After a few attempts O’Reilly found the target, scoring his second Premier League goal this season
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The Fulham dam finally burst in the 24th minute after a City move that started with Rodri sweeping the ball out to Matheus Nunes, who slid the ball into Semenyo before he crossed into the six-yard area.
Sander Berge attempted to clear but he got his angles wrong and instead headed the ball right into Semenyo’s path, and he pounced from six yards.
In their final foray into the City half before half-time, Fulham responded quickly, charging forward in a move that ended with Gianluigi Donnarumma palming away Wilson’s shot.
Guardiola, who barely celebrated the first goal, looked concerned, but there was no need for him to worry. The second goal was on its way.
Joachim Andersen knocked Haaland over on halfway, leaving a huge gap behind him for O’Reilly to exchange passes with Semenyo before the England international lifted the ball over Bernd Leno from a tight angle.
Haaland has scored 22 Premier League goals so far this season, already equalling his total for 2024-25
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The beauty of the goal lay in the build-up. The move started with three players, Bernardo Silva, Nunes and Phil Foden, playing a triangle of passes under pressure on the edge of their own area before Nunes surged forward and played the ball into Haaland’s feet.
Luckily, after Andersen had poleaxed Haaland, the referee, Paul Tierney, played advantage. Four passes and 20 seconds later, the ball struck the back of Leno’s net. When they are in this kind of form, that is how swift and deadly City can be.
Six minutes before half-time, Haaland got in on the act. Berge was at fault, losing the ball on halfway to Rayan Ait-Nouri, who pedalled forward with the ball and then fed Foden, who squared to Haaland. The Norwegian slotted the ball between Bassey’s legs into the far corner from 15 yards.
Bobb came on as a second-half substitute to face his former club, City, for the first time
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In first-half stoppage time, City appealed for a penalty after Kenny Tete appeared to pull Semenyo’s hair, but VAR did not award a penalty. “I went to attack the corner and I just felt a tug on my hair,” Semenyo said. “They checked it and said there wasn’t enough.”
Omar Marmoush replaced Haaland at the start of the second half. Silva, the driving force behind the win at Anfield, ran out of steam in the 60th minute and was replaced by Tijjani Reijnders.
If, as expected, Silva leaves in the summer, it will be one of the saddest goodbyes of Guardiola’s ten-year run. “He’s irreplaceable,” Guardiola said of his captain. “When Bernardo is not there, we have to play another system.”
With two of City’s most dangerous players off the pitch Fulham grew in confidence, but the defence held strong, Ait-Nouri whipping the ball away from Wilson just as he was about to shoot.
Marc Guéhi displayed immense composure and aggression to stifle Fulham, who tested Donnarumma late on with shots from Rodrigo Muniz and Josh King.
Manchester City (4-2-3-1): G Donnarumma — M Nunes (A Khusanov 60min), R Dias, M Guéhi, R Ait-Nouri — Rodri (N González 71), N O’Reilly — P Foden (R Cherki 71), B Silva (T Reijnders 60), A Semenyo — E Haaland (O Marmoush 46). Booked Silva, Foden.
Fulham (4-2-3-1): B Leno — K Tete, J Andersen, C Bassey, R Sessegnon — S Berge (H Reed 81), A Iwobi — H Wilson (O Bobb 72), E Smith-Rowe (J King 60), S Chukwueze (Kevin 60) — R Jiménez (R Muniz 60). Booked Andersen
Referee P Tierney.