Erling Braut Haaland scored a stoppage-time penalty as 10-man Manchester City recorded a 2-1 win over Fulham in the Premier League on Saturday.
Andreas Pereira’s penalty looked to have earned Fulham a point at the Etihad Stadium, but Haaland won it for Pep Guardiola’s side at the death, converting after Antonee Robinson had fouled Kevin De Bruyne inside the box.
The result has moved the Citizens, who had Joao Cancelo sent off in the penalty incident, above Arsenal to the top of the Premier League table, while Fulham occupy eighth position, boasting 19 points from their 14 matches during a positive start.
De Bruyne brought a smart save from Bernd Leno in the eighth minute, with Man City threatening to make the breakthrough, and Fulham’s resistance was broken in the 17th minute.
The opening goal came from Julian Alvarez, who raced onto a brilliant pass from Ilkay Gundogan before finding the back of the net with a powerful finish.
At that point, it appeared that Man City could pull away from the Cottagers, but the home side were reduced to 10 men and conceded a penalty in the 26th minute, with Cancelo sent off for fouling Harry Wilson, bumping the attacker off the ball when he was racing through on goal.
Pereira then stepped up to level the scores in the 28th minute with a clever penalty, sending Ederson the wrong way from the spot.
Man City had a half-chance to regain the lead in the 36th minute when De Bruyne found Alvarez with a long pass, but the forward’s effort was blocked by Tim Ream.
Jack Grealish then struck one wide of the Fulham post in the 42nd minute, but the two teams headed down the tunnel at 1-1, with the visitors undoubtedly the happier of the sides.
Phil Foden and Erling Braut Haaland were both introduced in the 64th minute of the contest, with Man City looking for a route past a resolute Fulham defensive unit.
The visitors had a half-chance in the 66th minute when Kenny Tete found space outside the box, but the defender’s effort was kept out by Ederson.
Haaland sent one wide of the Fulham post in the 70th minute, before the Norway international had a goal disallowed in the 76th minute due to offside.
A wonderful cross from De Bruyne was converted by Haaland, but it was chalked off following a VAR review.
Man City managed to claim all three points in the final moments, though, with Haaland finding a route past Leno in the Fulham goal after Robinson had brought De Bruyne to the ground.
