Talking Points From Fulham Win

Pep Guardiola’s side moved up to third, and remained undefeated after hosting Fulham at the Etihad on Saturday. One of only three sides in the Premier League to remain undefeated, with Liverpool and Chelsea the other two, with five wins from five. Previously I had posted the player ratings, with Bernardo Silva being my man of the match. Now though I want to talk about some of the interesting points from the game.

It certainly was a positive performance and a good result to get before we head into Champions League football against Lyon on Wednesday, but what did that performance tell us about Pep Guardiola and his side?

City V Fulham: Player Ratings

So long International break and hello real, meaningful football. The Premier League continued this weekend, with Manchester City hosting newly promoted Fulham. In the preview I had spoken about the potential for a return to the starting lineup for both Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling. And so it proved to be, with it not taking long for each to make a mark. I will talk more about the interesting take aways I got from the game in a later article, for now though I only wish to focus on the player ratings from the game.

Manchester City Tame Tough Toon

After four games of our record breaking season last season, Manchester City had ten points scored ten goals and conceded two. It was said, as Kompany raised the Premier League trophy, that it was something Manchester City would struggle to repeat.

Four games in this season though and we have those same ten points. Undefeated as we were last season, Manchester City have scored eleven and conceded three. That means, heading into the International break, 2018/19 Manchester City would be above 2017/18 Manchester City, if only on goals scored.

Yet it seems, with a draw against Wolves last weekend and struggling against Newcastle this, there is starting to be some unrest among City fans. Criticism I think is unfair and certainly, from a fan who witnessed the third tier of English football, a little weird to hear.

I think it is part of a new set of fans, brought up not knowing life in the bottom half of the League, never mind another division! It is something I think we are going to have to accept but for me, even yesterday’s game, as frustrating as it was at times, had many positives.