Manchester City showed their strength in depth as Peep Guardiola won 3–0 at Fulham on Saturday to take a 17-point lead at the top of the Premier League. All three goals came in the first 15 minutes of the second half in the form of John Stones, Gabriel Jesus and Sergio Aguero, bringing City closer to the third league title in four years. Manchester United have two games in hand for the fugitive leaders, but City need a maximum of 14 points from their final eight games to claim the title.
“The pace of the season is good,” Guardiola said. “The second half was so important. This is an important win for us and we are close.”
Guardiola’s men are still ready for this season’s historic quadruple trophy.
After his return to Champions League action against Borussia Monchengladbach in Budapest on Tuesday, the Catalan coach made seven changes with Kevin de Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan and Riyad Mahrez left on the bench for a full 90 minutes.
“I’ll come through well in Budapest through the rush,” said Guardiola, who has made 94 league highs in his league-up this season.
“Sometimes the players don’t believe me, I want everyone to be involved in it. Sometimes it’s hard, but everybody has to contribute to win the game and we are at the best as possible at the end of the season Will get into a fight. “
Despite still sitting in the bottom three, Fulham were on an impressive run to put themselves back in contention for survival, including a stunning 1-0 win over Liverpool last weekend.
Scott Parker’s men proved stubborn opponents again for the first 45 minutes, but were the architects of their own downfall in the second period.
“We conceded silly goals in the second half,” Parker said. “The first of the set-pieces is very easy and then the other two are mistakes.”
Within the first two minutes of the second half, all of Fulham’s work flew away as the Stones opened the Floodgate by latching on João Canso’s free-kick for a simple finish.
Fulham opened himself to second as Joakim Anderson’s nod, stopping teammate Evan Cavaleiro in the path of Jesus, who cooled Alphons Arella before exploding into an empty net.
Aguero’s appearances have been banned this season by testing positive and injuries to the coronovirus.
Citi’s all-time top scorer had not competed in the league since January 2020, but when Ferran Torres was dropped inside the box by Torren Adarabioo, Argentina caught the ball fast.
One of Citi’s few weaknesses this season is the failure to score, but restored to penalty duty, Aguero made no mistake.
Guardiola said, “Everything is round for him.”
A three-goal lead allowed Guardiola to withdraw to Bernardo Silva and Ruben Dias before a trip to Budapest.
Promoted
Already holding a 2–0 first leg lead, there should be a formality in the fourth consecutive quarter-finals, but claiming the club’s first European crown, one of unfinished business for Guardiola since arriving in Manchester five years ago piece off.
However, there is no doubt that City bosses will soon be able to add a third Premier League title with a hat-trick of victories over La Liga and the Bundesliga with Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
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