Without De Bruyne, Man City win at Fulham and temporarily take Premier League lead

With one point ahead of their main rivals Arsenal and one more game to play, the Citizens have more luck than ever to retain their title.

If the win was less controlled during the blowout against the Gunners (4-1), it took shape from the 3rd minute, with a mistake by Tim Ream on Julian Alvarez, then a penalty converted by Erling Haaland.

In the eyes of actor Hugh Grant, the Norwegian has tied with Andy Cole (1994) and Alan Shearer (1995) for the number of goals scored in a Premier League season.

While Manchester City had certainly taken control, Fulham took advantage of one of their rare chances to equalise, thanks to Carlos Vinicius, who took advantage of a good free pass from Harry Wilson (15th, 1-1).

A great drive from Julián Álvarez finally restored the advantage of Pep Guardiola’s formation on a shot from 20 meters which lobbed Bernd Leno (36th, 2-1).

Red Devils captain Kevin De Bruyne was not on the scoresheet. The player could not recover from the blow he received against Arsenal.

Speaking to SkySports, Guardiola confirmed that De Bruyne was “not feeling well” and was not fit enough to travel to the England capital, while indicating that he did not know when his player Will be completely fine.

Less spectacular than Arsenal at the same venue last month (a 3-0 win), Manchester City are consolidating their impressive run of eight consecutive wins in the league.

The Gunners will have an opportunity to temporarily pass City in the standings and preserve the Flames by taking on Chelsea on Tuesday (9:00 p.m. ET).

For their part, the Red Devils defeated (1–0) a team in the form of Aston Villa, which remained ten matches without defeat.

While Casemiro fired over the crossbar ten minutes earlier, Bruno Fernandes took advantage of Rashford’s strike by Emiliano Martínez to score from a tight angle (1-0, 39th).

The win allows Erik ten Haag’s men to consolidate their fourth qualifying spot for the next Champions League, nine points behind Tottenham and Aston Villa.

A demonstration of several hundred supporters was also held in front of Old Trafford before the match to demand the permanent departure of the club’s owners. A banner requires a completed sale (“Full Sale Only”). The Glazer family received offers on Friday from two takeover candidates, Ineos owner Jim Ratcliffe, who proposes to buy a majority of the shares, and Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) chairman, Sheikh Jassim, who wants a third. to buy the club outright.

Also note a more complicated than expected win for Newcastle against Championship bottom side Southampton (3–1), which allowed the Magpies to stay one point ahead of Manchester United, in third place.

Led by a goal from Stuart Armstrong (41st) after the break, Eddie Howe’s men later held their opponents breathless (17 shots to zero) and took advantage of a double from Callum Wilson (54th, 81st), and Theo Walcott (79th) took the three points from the same goal.