Fulham 1-2 Manchester City: Stunning Julian Alvarez goal propels Pep Guardiola’s men to the top

There is a temptation for this to be about Erling Haaland again. Bringing up a half century of goals, rewriting history, showing a flagrant disrespect to the competitiveness of the Premier League.

And there will be time for him. But in the wider context of Manchester City’s season, and this hunting down of a fifth title in six years, Sunday served as a significant milestone.

Not that they went top of the league for the first time since February – or, more amazingly only the 15th day of the campaign – but that City did so while negotiating a major scare, finishing with bookings for timewasting and little gripes between themselves.

A day where sharp intakes of breath were regular from the bench, one where the opposition’s goalkeeper had a worldie and the patterns of play just weren’t coming off. 

A day where they refused to give up a second equaliser, leaving west London with an eighth consecutive victory. A day that had Arsenal hoping and finished with disappointed frowns.

Alvarez clawed City back in-front with a long-range stunner against Fulham at Craven Cottage

Manchester City have moved to the top of the Premier League table with victory over Fulham

Erling Haaland (middle) scored his 50th goal of the season as he put City in-front from the penalty spot

Much of the talk since Wednesday night, and that thrashing of the Gunners, was how this is now mere a forgone conclusion. Fulham had other ideas because, as people often forget, this division is actually stacked with excellent football teams.

If City are to be parading the crown again – with who knows how many other trophies at this point – then Haaland will have proven the difference. If breaking Mohamed Salah’s league record was not enough, here he equalled Alan Shearer and Andrew Cole’s 34 back when the top tier possessed 22 teams.

Reaching 50 in all competitions is frankly absurd and if the Norwegian does come close to Dixie Dean’s 65 then City will be in with a shout of that Treble. Haaland has done so by constantly showing a disregard for what is front of him, stepping across the line and carving over long-on without a care in the world, making up the rest with easy singles. He has made a mockery of Our League.

Haaland finished this in front of the City support, buying corners with his strength as they just saw this out. Collapsing on the turf as Simon Hooper blew up. A far cry from earlier. Three minutes is how long it took for Haaland to be battering the inside of Bernd Leno’s netting. 

From the spot, aggressive swatting the penalty away into an unreachable corner, wheeling away to celebrate his season’s glory all in one moment.

Conceding that was unfortunate from Fulham’s perspective. Tim Ream – who later departed the scene with what appeared a nasty arm injury – outstretched a leg in some desperate as Julian Alvarez wriggled inside the box.

And so the away section sang in the sun for the next 10 minutes or so, running through a repertoire of new chants fashioned in the Bierkellers of Munich a fortnight ago. When City lead, they rarely cede ground.

Yet here they did. Marco Silva pushed his midfield higher, shutting City down with more urgency and was they won it back, Harrison Reed acted as the spare man to work an uncertain corridor between Ruben Dias and Manuel Akanji.

Fulham attacker Carlos Vinicius (middle) equalised for Fulham in the 13th minute to momentarily dent City’s title hopes

Vinicius celebrated his goal coolly in front of his home fans but it wouldn’t be long before City were back in-front

The equaliser, crafted by beauty and finished with a brutish half-volley by Carlos Vinicius, shocked the visitors. Akanji ought to have tracked Harry Wilson’s clever diagonal dart from an Andreas Pereira clip. From there, Wilson thoughtfully knocked back and Vinicius took the leather off.

Although given ample space to run in the final third, City were not stopped from romping. Their build-up was a little stop-start, a result of Kevin De Bruyne’s absence and not capitalising on the room in half spaces. Even so, Leno was a busy man. His personal collection glistened.

Pep Guardiola has now watched his side take top spot in the race for the Premier League title

Jack Grealish, who really had the constant beating of Tete in a battle which Silva left as a one-on-one, thought he had City’s second when cutting inside – as he does – and sending a shot towards the top corner. Somehow, Leno tipped that onto his crossbar. His legs thwarted Ilkay Gundogan when clean through and Grealish was thwarted twice more.

Despite all that, Guardiola will not have felt a strong sense of control. Fulham regularly pocketed possession in the middle third, breaking at pace, and put the back three under considerable pressure. The evidence of this came after half-time, when John Stones reverted to centre half on a more consistent basis.

Before that, City had the lead again, nine minutes shy of heading in. Alvarez used to do this all the time for River Plate, bang one in from nothing. He’d often have a look from 25 yards and think, “why not?” Balls would sail in from everywhere. Not so much at City, where that extra pass is the final piece of a gameplan so many just cannot fathom.

But here, with the game at 1-1, Alvarez wondered. Riyad Mahrez’s little ball progressed them near to the 18-yard box. Alvarez pirouetted away from a couple of defenders and eyed up that patch of netting to Leno’s top-right hand side. The shot looked like it had started halfway up the stand but looped, dipped and bent in unison. A stunner.

These were supposed to be the easy games for City, the ones proving that the Premier League is merely a procession from now on. A game against a team with nothing to play for, who lost six of their previous seven, on the back of such a rousing night against Arsenal. Things do not work like that, not even for this team and this manager.

Fulham – without Pereira, off on a stretcher with a head injury – carried on going, screaming for a penalty when Kyle Walker barged over Bobby De Cordova-Reid in what was deemed by Hooper to have been his shoulder.

Ederson, whose performance have improved dramatically in recent weeks, superbly clawed at the feet of Vinicius as the Brazilian looked certain to equalise again. 

Safe for another outstanding Leno stop, a sharp move down to his right in denying Haaland – then again from Alvarez – City were not creating much. But they finished the job, with the help of the patient Bernardo Silva from the bench, and go marching on.