Haaland scored his 50th goal in all competitions, while Julian Alvarez scored an wonderful long range goal to make the scoreline 2-1 during Fulham vs Man City at the Craven Cottage.

The Craven Cottage clash got off to the perfect start for Pep Guardiola’s side, when Tim Ream hacked down Julian Alvarez inside the box and gave referee Simon Hooper an easy decision to make. Erling Haaland stepped up and picked out the bottom right corner with his penalty kick – that strike his 50th of the season and 34th in the top flight for City.

City were pegged back on 15 minutes though, when Fulham drew level through Carlos Vinicius. The Brazilian striker combined in the box with Harry Wilson and finished off a fine team move with his thunderous finish. The visitors had to rediscover their groove as the first half progressed, but the goal to send them back ahead – and eventually win the game – was a worthy one.

Julian Alvarez picked up the ball from 25 yards out, decided to have a go and did not regret it for one moment – as his wonderful strike whistled through the air and bent into the top left corner. Bernd Leno – who had kept out Jack Grealish well earlier in the half – stood absolutely no chance in the Fulham net.

Marco Silva’s men huffed and puffed from there on in, but City stood firm and saw the points home – to climb above Arsenal and finish the weekend in top spot.

Fulham vs Man City: Summary

Fulham headed into the match with little to play for after their recent run all but ruled out a late push for European football.

Manchester City, meanwhile, knew a win would take them top of the Premier League until at least Tuesday when Arsenal take on Chelsea.

And when all was said and done, Manchester City came away with the win.

Manchester City got off to a dream start as they were awarded a penalty inside the opening two minutes.

Julian Alvarez was fouled by Tim Ream. Erling Haaland stepped up to score the penalty for his 50th goal of the season.

Man City’s dominance continued in the open exchanges with Alvarez and Jack Grealish coming close.

However, Fulham hit back 15 minutes in with their first meaningful attack of the day. Harry Wilson flicked a long ball down to Vinicius who hit his effort well.

The home outfit were forced into an early change shortly after their equaliser as Tim Ream went off injured.

Grealish should have put City back in front after 26 minutes but Leno saved.

Man City would restore their lead shortly before half-time, though, with Alvarez smashing in a beautiful curling effort from outside the box.

Second Half:

The Sky Blues came out for the second half of Fulham vs Man City on top, with Leno doing well to deny Haaland and Alvarez. Ederson then nearly gifted Fulham a goal shortly after the hour mark but he was able to get the ball out from under Vinicius before he could shoot.

The second half turned pretty scrappy around 70 minutes in, with Grealish and Kenny Tete both booked for an off-the-ball incident.

But neither outfit created too much for the remainder of the tie and City were able to pick up the win.