Man City HIC 16:9Getty/GOAL

Man City player ratings vs Fulham: Erling Haaland hits 100 club and Phil Foden bags twice but Pep Guardiola's side almost throw it away again in wild nine-goal thriller

Haaland was on a short drought of no goals in three games and began the game by hitting the post with a glorious opportunity. But he quickly made amends in typically emphatic fashion, lashing in a cross from Jeremy Doku in the 17th minute to score his 100th Premier League goal, doing so in record time. Scorer turned provider when City doubled their lead later in the first half, the Norwegian holding the ball up to slip in Tijjani Reijnders for a simple finish. 

Foden, fresh from bagging a brace to rescue the win against Leeds, joined the goal frenzy by smashing in a loose ball from outside the box a minute before half-time after a careless punch by Bernd Leno a minute. But before half-time had arrived, Fulham got back in the game as Emile Smith-Rowe landed a diving header in first-half stoppage time.

City seemed to have put the game beyond the hosts' reach within nine minutes of the restart as Foden scored again and then Sander Berge deflected a shot from Doku into his own net. But Marco Silva's side rallied to set up an epic finish, with Alex Iwobi quickly responding by whipping the ball in from outside the box and making it 5-2. 

Samuel Chukwueze then scoring his first two goals in English football in quick succession to reduce the deficit to one goal with 12 minutes remaining. City clung on nervously until the end to move two points behind Arsenal, who have their game in hand on Wednesday against Brentford.

GOAL rates Man City's players from Craven Cottage...

  • CORRECTION / FBL-ENG-PR-FULHAM-MAN CITYAFP

    Goalkeeper & Defence

    Gianluigi Donnarumma (5/10):

    Needed to command his area better and made a real mess leading to Chukwueze's second goal as he again flapped at a corner.

    Matheus Nunes (5/10):

    Switched off for Fulham's first goal and for the second game running looked powerless to cope with waves of pressure from the opponent, underlining City's need to sign a natural right-back.

    Ruben Dias (5/10):

    Played Fulham's players onside for the third goal and should have patrolled the defence better.

    Josko Gvardiol (5/10):

    Didn't defend with the urgency he needed to until the end when he at last dug deep. Caught in two minds in the other box, spurning a chance to put the game to bed.

    Nico O'Reilly (5/10):

    Needs to be more careful about bombing forward as he left his fellow defenders short on a few ocasions.

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    Midfield

    Bernardo Silva (5/10):

    His early influence faded as the game dragged on and he should have been taken off to inject some energy into the team.

    Nico Gonzalez (6/10):

    Caught in possession a couple of times but it says a lot that Fulham came flying back into the game once he had been taken off. 

    Tijjani Reijnders (6/10):

    Scored for the first time since the opening day of the season with a cool finish and played his part in City's flurry of dangerous attacks.

  • Phil Foden Man CityGetty/GOAL

    Attack

    Phil Foden (8/10):

    Stepped up again to make it clear he is City's most important player other than Haaland.

    Erling Haaland (8/10):

    It's difficult to argue with his 100th goal and two assists, even if the second was accidental. Should have scored earlier than he did but even so, this was yet another reminder of his importance to City.

    Jeremy Doku (7/10):

    Contributed to two goals after a difficult display against Leeds and was off the pitch when the real chaos happened.

  • Fulham v Manchester City - Premier LeagueGetty Images Sport

    Subs & Manager

    John Stones (5/10):

    City lost control of the game after he replaced Gonzalez in midfield.

    Savinho (5/10):

    Like Stones, the game almost slipped away from City when he came on. Made an important tackle in added time before dribbling his way out of the box, only to lose possession.

    Rayan Cherki (N/A):

    Brought on in the 84th minute to keep Fulham on their toes but only managed to get a booking.

    Pep Guardiola (6/10):

    His blood pressure must have been soaring in the second half but he made a silly mistake in taking off Gonzalez and making Stones anchor the midfield instead.