A stoppage-time penalty (90+5 minutes) from substitute Erling Haaland earned 10-man Manchester City a dramatic 2-1 win over Fulham on Saturday, a victory that sent the champion back to the top of the Premier League.
With leading goalscorer Haaland deemed fit enough only for the bench after missing the previous two City games through injury, Argentinean forward Julian Alvarez fired the home side into a 17th-minute lead.
The champion thought it had quickly doubled its lead through John Stones but Rodri was offside in the build-up, and Fulham capitalised on that reprieve, going straight down the other end and winning a 26th-minute penalty.
City defender Joao Cancelo was given a straight red card for bundling Harry Wilson to the floor, with former Manchester United midfielder Andreas Pereira making no mistake from the spot as Fulham went into the interval level.
City continued to dominate even with a numerical disadvantage. Haaland was brought on and quickly thought he had restored his side’s lead after glancing a header home, but VAR stepped in to rule the Norwegian to be offside.
It seemed City had done all they could until Kevin De Bruyne was brought down and Haaland converted the penalty to send the Etihad Stadium into delirium in the 95th minute, as the champion moved one point clear of Arsenal at the top of the standings. Fulham stayed eighth.
Other results
Gross sends Brighton into top six with winner at Wolves
Pascal Gross’s late goal sealed a thrilling 3-2 victory for Brighton and Hove Albion at 10-man Wolverhampton Wanderers in a rip-roaring Premier League clash on Saturday.
Wolves trailed to an early Adam Lallana goal, then led with goals by Goncalo Guedes and Ruben Neves only for Kaoru Mitoma to level and Nelson Semedo to be red-carded, all before halftime.
Brighton pressed hard for a winner after the break but struggling Wolves were resisting admirably until Gross fired high into the roof of the net in the 83rd minute.
It was tough on Wolves, who had earlier named Spaniard Julen Lopetegui as their new manager, but Brighton deservedly backed-up last week’s victory over Chelsea to move into sixth place.
Brighton has 21 points from 13 games played while Wolves are in 19th place with 10 points.
Leeds edges Bournemouth 4-3 with stunning second-half comeback
Leeds United bounced back from two goals down to edge Bournemouth 4-3 in an exhilarating, end-to-end encounter at Elland Road in the Premier League on Saturday.
Despite finding themselves 3-1 down early in the second half, Jesse Marsch’s Leeds mounted an epic comeback with the vociferous home support behind them to take all three points and move up to 12th in the standings.
Forest snatch 2-2 draw with Brentford after Jorgensen own goal
An own goal from Brentford defender Mathias Jorgensen in the sixth minute of stoppage time gave Nottingham Forest a share of the spoils in a 2-2 Premier League draw at the City Ground on Saturday.
Brentford goalkeeper David Raya punched away a cross from the right and Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White had his effort blocked before the ball ricocheted off Jorgensen and over the line, with the goal given after a VAR check for offside.
Despite earning a crucial point, Forest remain rooted to the bottom of the table on 10 points from 14 games while Brentford move up to 10th with 16 points.
Comments
SHARE