April 30, (THEWILL) – Manchester City claimed a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Fulham at Craven Cottage to move above Arsenal at the top of the English Premier League table.
Erling Haaland opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the third minute, marking his 50th goal of the season, before Carlos Vinicius equalised for the hosts. However, Julian Alvarez’s stunning long-range effort sealed City’s eighth straight league win, taking them a point clear of Mikel Arteta’s Gunners with a game in hand to come.
City have now won each of their last 14 encounters with Fulham, who suffered their sixth defeat in eight games to remain in 10th place. The visitors dominated the first half and regained the lead in 36 minutes, with Alvarez whipping a wonderful 25-yard effort into the top-left corner after Bernd Leno tipped Jack Grealish’s curling shot onto the crossbar.
Fulham struggled to find a way back into the match after the break, and City, who were comfortable to play keep-ball and wind down the clock, held on to extend their winning streak and take another step towards a third successive title.
Despite the victory, City manager, Pep Guardiola, will be looking for more consistency from his side as they enter the crucial stages of the season. Their next game is against West Ham, while Fulham face Liverpool, who will be looking to capitalise on their rival’s recent slip-ups.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
