Manchester City Survive Fulham Scare in Nine-Goal Thriller at Craven Cottage
Fulham pushed Manchester City to the edge in a breathtaking 5–4 clash in London, but Pep Guardiola’s men held on to keep their title charge alive.
Manchester City were dragged through fire, chaos, and everything in between, but ultimately survived a wild 5–4 shootout against a spirited Fulham side at a soaked Craven Cottage on Tuesday night.
Erling Haaland opened the scoring in the 17th minute, smashing home Jeremy Doku’s low cross to mark his 100th Premier League goal in just 111 games, obliterating Alan Shearer’s long-standing record. Haaland then turned provider 20 minutes later, sliding in Tijjani Reijnders, who delicately chipped Bernd Leno for 2–0.
City looked in cruise control until the match flipped into madness.
Phil Foden curled in a superb third goal in the 44th minute after Leno’s poor punch fell kindly to him, but Emile Smith Rowe threw Fulham a lifeline just before halftime with a clever header to make it 3–1 at the break.
After the restart, Foden struck again after a Haaland flick intentional or not before Doku’s speculative effort deflected off Sander Berge for an own goal to send City 5–1 up.
Game over? Not even close.
Fulham responded with heart and fury.
Alex Iwobi curled home a beauty from the edge of the box to make it 5–2. Then came Samuel Chukwueze, who produced two blistering strikes one in the 72nd and another in the 78th to drag the scoreline to a jaw-dropping 5–4 as City collapsed defensively.
Craven Cottage was shaking. Pep Guardiola was stunned. Fulham believed.
And they nearly levelled.
A late effort rolled past a stranded Donnarumma before Josko Gvardiol sprinted back to sweep it off the line in the 98th minute, sealing City’s escape in one of the Premier League’s matches of the season.
The stats showed the madness:
The win moves Manchester City within two points of leaders Arsenal, who have a game in hand. Fulham, despite their spirited display, remain 15th. This was football chaos in its purest form. A thriller in West London that will be remembered for years.
