STONES LEADING THE WAY
City defender breaks deadlock and Parker’s Fulham implode
SCOTT PARKER sported his lucky blazer again at Craven Cottage. It is a soft, quilted item, a snug fit that he wears over a gilet. It makes him look a little as if he should be holding a glass of Pimm’s and cheering on a crew at the Henley Royal Regatta.
Sadly for him and his team, the luck got sucked out of it against Manchester City. All it got him and his relegation-threatened side was a dressing down.
On the eve of the game, City’s manager Pep Guardiola had smiled when it was suggested that Parker was his sartorial equal. ‘ He is younger,’ he said. ‘He has hair. He is better than me. I accept a draw.’
That last bit would only have been true if this had been a fashion show but unfortunately for Fulham, it was a football match and City were in no mood to accept a share of the spoils. After a goalless first half, the runaway Premier League leaders overpowered Fulham with three strikes in 13 minutes and the game was over.
It was City’s 13th consecutive away victory in all competitions and moved them 17 points clear of Manchester United at the top of the table. They need 14 points from their last eight games to be sure of the title. They are cruising.
This was a good night for them in every way. They rested a galaxy of first-choice players and still won comfortably and Sergio Aguero scored his first Premier League goal since January 2020 with a penalty to end a dispiriting spell. John Stones, City’s best player in southwest London, and Gabriel Jesus got the other goals in the 3-0 win.
If City are still in the hunt for four trophies, Fulham’s eyes are fixed only on the prize of staying in the top flight and this result left their position unchanged. Newcastle, who lost on Friday night, and Brighton are still very much in their sights and they played well enough in the first half to suggest they should remain optimistic.
West Brom’s defeat at Crystal Palace earlier in the day had all but confirmed that only Fulham of the bottom t hree have a realistic chance of escaping relegation and they went into the match still brimming with the confidence that came with beating Liverpool at Anfield last weekend and basking in the glory of that for the last six days.
Fulham started the game well, alive and bright and on the front foot. One early ball from Ivan Cavaleiro, swung in from the left flank with the outside of his right boot, behind the City defence and into the path of Ademola Lookman, was a thing of beauty, spoiled only by the fact that Lookman had strayed marginally offside.
It was City, though, who forged the first clear chance. Joao Cancelo slipped a neat ball through to Ferran Torres inside the Fulham box in the 17th minute and even though Torres was clean through on Alphonse Areola, his shot was weak and too close to the Fulham goalkeeper, who saved it easily. It was an opportunity wasted.
But even if City began to dominate the ball, even if Stones looked wonderfully assured in possession every time he glided forward from the back, City were not playing with their usual fluency. Their final ball was poor, Aguero was close to anonymous, Torres struggled to make an impact, Jesus seemed unsure how to link best with Aguero.
City must make a decision on Aguero’s future ure soon. He is 32, he will l be out of contract in t he s ummer a nd going into this game he had not scored in the League for 13 months. That statistic did not take into account a bout of Covid- 19 and a hammstring injury but many any feel his time at The Etihad may be coming to an end.
That decision will be complicated by Aguero’s status at the club. He is a City legend. Many believe he is the greatest player who has ever worn the club shirt, others that he is the greatest foreign player to have graced our league. He is, incontrovertibly, the greatest goalscorer in the club’s history and the man who scored the goal that won them the title in 2012.
But he has only started four games this season and, before this match, had only played for 171 minutes since returning to fitness on November 23. City are being linked with high profile replacements.
He led City out at Craven Cottage but struggled to make an impact in the first half. He was largely starved of service and while it is the nature of his game that he can explode into a match in a moment he cut a disconsolate figure when he trudged off at half time.
The second half was less than two minutes old when City took the lead. Jesus was fouled on the left and Cancelo curled the free kick in into the box with his ri right foot. It was a sup superb delivery and whe when the defence allowed it to bounce, Stones forced his way through the crowd to stab the ball past Areola.
Stones celebrated with gusto. It is not the first important goal he has scored this season — it was his fourth in the last ten League games — and it was another staging post in the impressive renaissance that has seen him re-establish himself in the City side and go back to the front of the queue when Gareth Southgate is selecting his England defenders for the European Championships this summer.
Bernardo Silva then wriggled past several challenges near the corner flag and laid the ball back invitingly into the path of Rodri on the edge of the area. Rodri had time to measure his shot but could only drill it straight at Areola who parried it away. It was only a brief reprieve.
Ten minutes into the half, Cavaleiro played Joachim Andersen into trouble and when the Dane stretched to tackle Jesus, the ball rebounded off Cavaleiro into the path of the City forward. Jesus dribbled round Areola and smashed the ball into the net. Five minutes after that, the leaders put the game out of reach.
Torres ran at former City Academy product Tosin Adarabioyo and when the two came together and the Spaniard fell, the referee pointed to the penalty spot. It seemed like a harsh decision but it was Aguero’s chance. He stepped up and lashed it past Areola. His long goal drought was over at last.