Round I: Man City Outperforms Fulham, MU Leads Over Aston Villa

– Manchester City won 2-1 over host Fulham in the first half of the Premier League continued, Sunday (30/4/2023) at Craven Cottage Stadium, London.

Meanwhile, in other matches, Manchester United also led 1-0 over visiting Aston Villa. Manchester United’s goal was scored by Bruno Fernandes in the 39th minute. The Portuguese player scored a goal using a regurgitated ball from the Aston Villa goalkeeper who was trying to block Marcus Rushford’s shot.

In the match at Craven Cottage, Man City won 1-0 through Erling Haaland’s penalty. However, Fulham equalized thanks to a goal by Carlos Vinicius. But Alvarez’s shot from outside the penalty box brought Man City ahead at half-time.

Manchester City are relying on striker Erling Haaland again in this away match. Man City has the chance to overtake the standings leader Arsenal if they win this match. With 75 points, Arsenal are still two points ahead of Man City.

Man City coach, Pep Guardiola, carries out a 3-2-4-1 formation. Haaland is as usual the sole spearhead in the front row. He is supported by a quartet of Julián Álvarez, Ilkay Gundogan, Riyad Mahrez and Jack Grealish.

While in the Fulham camp, coach Marco Silva also carried out a 4-2-3-1 formation. He put Carlos Vinícius as a mainstay in the front row supported by Harry Wilson, Andreas Pereira and Bobby Reid.

After successfully defeating the Gunners in the middle of last week, the distance between City (73) and Arsenal (75) is now only two points. City also still have two games yet to play, which makes them even more comfortable in their pursuit of Mikel Arteta’s men.

Moreover, Arsenal did not play this weekend, and just played again against Chelsea in the middle of next week. That is, if City is able to reap the full three points when they travel to Fulham headquarters tonight, the defending champions will win over the top of the standings.

Man City started this match brilliantly. They already took the lead when the game had only been three minutes thanks to Erling Haaland’s penalty kick. The referee pointed to the spot after the Ream Team fouled Julian Alvarez in the dangerous box.

Haaland didn’t waste this golden opportunity either. Goalkeeper Bernd Leno was indeed able to guess the direction of Haaland’s left-foot shot. But the ball that came too fast made the German goalkeeper unable to prevent it from hitting the goal.

But Man City’s advantage did not last long. Fulham managed to equalize in the 15th minute. The goal started from Andreas Pereira’s pass to the front of the goal. The ball was then met by Harry Wilson with a header to Vinicius. The Brazilian player then fired a left foot shot into the lower right corner of the goal and Ederson could not anticipate it.

Man City finally took the lead again in the 36th minute. Receiving feedback from Riyad Mahrez, Julian Alvarez then fired a shot from outside the penalty box that tricked Bernd Leno. The 2-1 score for Man City’s advantage lasted until the first round was over.

Lineup:

Fulham (4-2-3 -1): 17 Bernd Leno; 2 Kenny Tete, 4 Tosin Adarabioyo, 13 Tim Ream, 33 Antonee Robinson; 6 Harrison Reed, 26 Joao Palhinha; 8 Harry Wilson, 18 Andreas Pereira, 14 Bobby Reid; 30 Carlos Vinicius

Reserves: 1 Marek Rodak; 5 Shane Duffy, 7 Neeskens Kebano, 10 Tom Cairney, 11 Manor Soloman, 12 Cédric Soares, 21
Daniel James, 28 Sasa Lukic, 31 Issa Diop

Manchester City (3-2-4-1): Ederson 31; 2 Kyle Walker, 3 Ruben Dias, 25 Manuel Akanji; 5 John Stones; 16 Rodri; 19 Julián Álvarez, 8 Ilkay Gündogan, 26 Riyad Mahrez, 10 Jack Grealish; 9 Erling Haaland.

Subs: 4 Kalvin Phillips, 14 Aymeric Laporte, 18 Stefan Ortega Moreno, 20 Bernardo Silva, 21 Sergio Gomez, 32 Maximo Perrone, 33 Scott Carson, 47 Phil Foden.
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