Haaland Makes History as Man City Hold Off Charging Fulham in 5-4 Victory

Manchester City’s Erling Haaland became the fastest player to reach 100 Premier League goals to ignite their charge on Tuesday, and then Pep Guardiola’s men held off a furious comeback effort from Fulham in a wild 5-4 win.

Phil Foden bagged a double, Tijjani Reijnders also struck, and Sander Berge scored an own goal to keep City firmly in the title hunt in second place with 28 points. Leaders Arsenal, who have 30 points, host Brentford on Wednesday. Fulham are 15th on 17 points.

City looked to be heading for a rout at Craven Cottage with a gaping 5-1 lead, but Fulham roared back with three second-half goals — a brace from Samuel Chukwueze and one from Alex Iwobi — for a thrilling finish.

Haaland made history in the 17th minute with a blistering left-footed shot from Jeremy Doku’s cross, scoring his 100th goal in his 111th game, 13 fewer than the previous fastest centurion, Alan Shearer.

Reijnders doubled City’s lead in the 37th minute when he ran onto a through ball from Haaland, and Foden struck his first in the 44th minute with a beautiful shot from outside the box into the top-left corner. Fulham’s Emile Smith Rowe pulled one back with a diving header seconds before halftime, but Foden completed his double in the 48th minute from the top of the six-yard box, and Berge deflected Doku’s shot in off his knee to pad City’s lead six minutes later.

But Fulham were not done, as Iwobi struck in the 57th minute, and Chukwueze scored in the 72nd and 78th, thanks to some lacklustre City defending. The home supporters roared with every attack, and they thought they had levelled at the death, but Josko Gvardiol made an incredible clearance off the line from Josh King’s shot seconds before the final whistle as City’s fans breathed a sigh of relief.

Manchester City thoroughly dominated the first half, but Iwobi’s goal breathed hope into the home side against a visiting team that was shockingly passive after the break, and will need to sort out their defence to challenge for the title.

City have won their past 19 meetings against Fulham in all competitions since 2012, which is the longest winning run by a team against any opponent in English football. -Reuters

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