Impressive Manchester City hit four past Fulham
Manchester City reclaimed fourth place in the Premier League table by defeating Fulham 4–1 in the Premier League on Sunday 21 November.
The visitors produced an outstanding display to overcome the London team as two goals from Carlos Tevez and one each from Pablo Zabaleta and Yaya Toure rendered Zoltan Gera's consolation futile.
Mark Hughes, who was sacked as City coach in December 2009 before taking charge of Fulham in July, seemed to have instructed his players to pressure Roberto Mancini's men high up the pitch — a tactic that
City punished with only five minutes gone.
Tevez shines as Kolarov fails
Gareth Barry played in Tevez, City's captain, on the edge of the area, where the Argentine held off Carlos Salcido to turn and finish low into the corner of the goal, beyond the reach of Mark Schwarzer.
City then contained most of Fulham's attempts and should have doubled their lead by the 23rd minute, when Aleksander Kolarov found himself alone with Schwarzer after a counter-attack only to stumble on
the ball and produce a finish that the Australian had little trouble stopping.
Instead, the visitors' second goal came just after the half-hour mark.
Zabaleta ran onto a loose ball after a corner and fired it into the right corner from outside the area, with the ball deflecting slightly off Fulham's Damien Duff on its way in.
Two minutes later, the surging City side added another goal when David Silva played in Yaya Toure, with the Ivorian taking two touches before finishing low into the left corner as Mancini's team took a
firm grip on the fixture.
Gera lively for Fulham
Fulham worked City goalkeeper Joe Hart for the first time shortly after the break, as the Englishman came out to collect an Andy Johnson cross that seemed destined for half-time substitute Gera in the
penalty box.
With 52 minutes played, Gera forced Hart to save from his header before being punished for pushing a City defender in the build-up.
Minutes later, it was City's turn to grab the attention again when Zabaleta picked up another loose ball from a corner and fired a shot towards Schwarzer.
This time, Tevez was lurking in front of the goal, and the striker steered his countryman's shot beyond the keeper's reach.
In the 69th minute, Gera restored some of Fulham's honour as striker Jo failed to clear City's lines. The Hungarian hit a shot that deflected off Toure before beating Hart.
City remained in control for the rest of the game, with Gera's 83rd-minute header as the only notable scoring opportunity.
Mancini's team are now fourth with 25 points from 14 games, while Fulham's tally of 14 keeps them in 17th place, trailing Everton by one point.
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