Haaland saves the day as City move to top of Premier League
LONDON – Manchester City, despite playing with just 10 men, moved to the top of the Premier League on Saturday after their last-gasp 2-1 victory over Fulham at the Etihad Stadium.
Erling Haaland was yet again the hero for his team as he converted a penalty deep into stoppage time to clinch all three points.
Pep Guardiola’s men have 32 points, one ahead of Arsenal, who travel to Stamford Bridge on Sunday to take on Chelsea.
The win also meant that City have now put together a 15-game winning streak on home soil in all competitions and, like the Gunners, have lost only once so far in the league this season.
The Premier League champions set the tone as early as the third minute, when Bernardo Silva forced a save from Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno.
It was all one-way traffic from there as City kept up the pressure and it paid off in the 16th minute.
Julian Alvarez, deputising for Haaland, who started on the bench after having just recovered from ankle injury, scored his second goal in as many matches.
The Argentinian forward received a pass from Ilkay Gundogan, kept his cool and lashed the ball in off the crossbar.
City’s lead did not last long, however.
Joao Cancelo was sent off in the 26th minute for knocking over Harry Wilson in the box and Andreas Pereira, the former Manchester United midfielder, converted the resulting penalty to make it 1-1.
The home side pressed on after the break despite playing with a man short, and Guardiola sent on Haaland and Phil Foden in the 64th minute in search of a winner.
City still dominated the game with over 70 per cent possession at this stage.
Haaland gave his side some needed firepower when he latched onto a pass in the 70th minute but his strike flew narrowly wide of the post.
Four minutes later, the Norwegian striker headed the ball into the net but the goal was ruled out for offside after a VAR (video assistant referee) check.
There was no doubt in the 95th minute when Fulham’s Antonee Robinson committed a foul in the area and Haaland stepped up to score his 18th Premier League goal in 12 matches.
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