Manchester City 5-1 Fulham - The look back
An awful refereeing decision precedes an implosion. Starting to sound familiar, isn't it?
Sigh. They say if you don’t laugh, you’ll cry. But I don’t think any of us feel much like laughing.
A day before this game we suffered torrid transfer deadline day, in which we failed to replace Mitro, we had our best player unsettled in Joao Palhinha, and we lost our former Chairman, Mohamend Al Fayed.
It was hardly ideal preparation, and combined with injuries, saw us very light in the middle. We became even lighter when Cairney came off injured after 15 minutes. But we held our own in the early goings, and when we fell behind to Julian Alvarez there couldn’t be many complaints as to the quality of the move from the champions. We even levelled within two minutes; Tim Ream tapped in from a corner after Jimenez nearly scored himself.
But from there, the game fell into farce. Nathan Ake scored just before the break, despite Akanji being offside. The VAR check somehow concluded he wasn’t interfering with play, despite him being right in front of Leno and making an attempt to change the direction of the ball. Absolutely maddening.
The second half was painful. Erling Haaland scored a hat trick - the second of the three from the spot following a soft, soft penalty decision. It was a capitulation with mitigating circumstances, but the result was the same.
Thank God for the international break. Time to bed in the new boys, gee up Joao, and go again. You Whites.
What they said
Marco Silva: A great reaction from ourselves from the last result. Many people said this would not be a good stadium to come to and show a reaction. We believed it could be the best place to come and show that.
George Cooper: What the hell is going on with the officiating in this league?! Genuinely some of the worst decisions I've ever seen in this match. How has that goal stood?! Put simply: if Akanji isn't there, Leno saves it.
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Fulhamish content
Player ratings: Manchester City 5-1 Fulham
Positives and negatives: Manchester City 5-1 Fulham
Man City 5-1 Fulham | QUICK TAKE
A call for perspective on transfer window frustration
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No one is underestimating the Hatters - but this is the perfect opportunity to get back to winning ways after a welcome international break.
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