Josko Gvardiol scored twice as Manchester City overcame Fulham to go two points ahead of Arsenal in the Premier League title chase.
In a game they dominated from start to finish, the visitors took the lead early on when defender Gvardiol finished clinically after a beautiful move that opened up the Fulham defence.
Phil Foden then continued his fantastic season with a second goal after the break, putting a first-time finish past Bernd Leno.
Erling Haaland, the Premier League’s top scorer, should have scored a third midway through the second half, but he drove high over the net.
But Manchester City didn’t have to wait long for another goal, as Gvardiol poked in at the far post to put the game beyond Fulham.
Issa Diop received a second yellow card in stoppage time for bringing down Julain Alvarez inside the box, and the Manchester City replacement duly converted the penalty.
Gvardiol could have gotten a hat-trick, the first Premier League defender to do so but he left it to Alvarez after a conversation with captain Kyle Walker and midfielder Rodri.
After the match, Gvardiol said he was happy to let Alvarez – the designated penalty taker – score the fourth goal.
Advantage Man City as Arsenal take it to the wire
As a result, the Gunners will travel to Manchester United on Sunday knowing they must win in order to keep the title fight alive until the end of the season.
Manchester City face Tottenham on Tuesday, and if Arsenal fails to win at Old Trafford, Guardiola’s team will win the Premier League for the fourth time in a row.
Arsenal’s stuttering in the final stages of last season’s title chase resulted in a rather simple victory for Manchester City.
But this time they have been pushed harder by Mikel Arteta’s men, and Guardiola stressed earlier this week that there could be no margin for error in their pursuit of another league trophy.
Against a Fulham side with nothing to play for, coupled with an impressive run of 15 straight wins against the Cottagers, a slip-up always looked unlikely at Craven Cottage.
And so it proved as they dominated throughout to make it seven successive wins in the Premier League, scoring four goals or more in six of those victories.
Arsenal are still very much in the title race, and a win against Manchester United on Sunday would put the pressure back on City, but the manner of this comfortable win indicates that Guardiola’s side are showing very little sign of nerves when it matters.
Fulham winding down the season
Fulham needed to win to keep alive hopes of matching last season’s top-10 finish, but that was always going to be difficult against a Manchester City side going for the title.
The hosts did make an energetic start, with City struggling to get a touch of the ball for the first couple of minutes, but with Gvardiol’s goal the visitors were firmly in control.
Fulham had one moment in the second half when they caused some alarm for the City defence, Rodrigo Muniz’s flicked effort deflecting towards the far corner before Ederson was able to scramble across, but they were otherwise largely toothless.
While relegation has never been a concern it has been a disappointing end to the season for Marco Silva’s side, having won just one of their last eight Premier League games.
