Haaland the hero as Pep hails Fulham win as ‘the moment’ of City career
Erling Haaland came off the bench to score a stoppage-time penalty that allowed 10-man Manchester City to defeat Fulham.
City had broken the deadlock in the 17th minute through Julian Alvarez’s powerful effort.
But less than 10 minutes later, Joao Cancelo saw red for a barge on Harry Wilson whilst through on goal, and former Manchester United midfielder, Andreas Pereira, kept his cool and converted from the penalty spot.
Haaland was introduced from the bench, and thought he had put City in front when he headed in Kevin De Bruyne’s header.
However, referee Stuart Attwell was advised to rule the effort out by VAR as the Norwegian was adjudged to be offside.
City, though, were not to be denied of all the points in the dying stages of stoppage time.
And after Antonee Robinson brought Kevin de Bruyne down inside the box, Haaland squeezed his penalty past Bernd Leno to nudge City back to the top of the Premier League table.
Later, City boss, Pep Guardiola, enthused: “It was the moment of my period here in Manchester so far and, of course, the goal at the end, celebrating with our people.
“We didn’t win the Premier League here today, of course. But this moment makes sense of our job for all us. It was so exciting.
“After seven years, you always have doubts.
“Do people follow you? Are they tired? Are people annoyed in their jobs? Many thousands of millions of meetings, training sessions and travel.
“But today you say, wow. You see they are there.
“They still want to do it, they are still alive and they make us so, so proud.
“We won because my players are beyond exceptional in all departments.”
Crysencio Summerville was Leeds’ hero for the second successive week as they battled back from 3-1 down to overcome Bournemouth 4-3 in a thriller at Elland Road.
The hosts opened the scoring through Rodrigo’s early penalty, but that was cancelled out four minutes later by Marcus Tavernier’s strike.
Then Philip Billing edged the visitors in front before the break.
The West Yorkshire side were staring down the barrel of another home loss when Dominic Solanke bagged his 50th league goal three minutes after the break.
But they hit back with second-half goals from Sam Greenwood and Liam Cooper, before Summerville’s emphatic one-on-one finish sealed the points.
Nottingham Forest rescued a dramatic point with Brentford in the sixth minute of stoppage time after Mathias Jorgensen turned the ball into his own net.
Morgan Gibbs-white scored his first goal in Forest colours in the 20th minute, but Bryan Mbeumo levelled from the penalty spot and Yoane Wissa looked to have completed the turnaround with 15 minutes.
However, there was drama in added time when Gibbs-white’s effort was helped in by Jorgensen to ensure the sides shared the spoils.
Pascal Gross scored seven minutes from time to hand Brighton all three points in a breathtaking 3-2 win over 10-man Wolves at Molineux.
The Seagulls had scored first, thanks to Adam Lallana’s early goal. But Goncalo Guedes made things all square a couple of minutes later, and Wolves then hit the front when Ruben Neves tucked away a penalty after Lewis Dunk appeared to handle the ball.
Kaoru Mitoma levelled things up in the 44th minute, and soon after lured a challenge from Nelson Semedo which saw him receive his marching orders.
After being forced to play with 10 men for the second half, the Wolves defence succumbed to Gross’ emphatic finish which sealed another three points for Roberto De Zerbi’s men.
Goals from Youri Tielemans and Harvey Barnes helped Leicester climb out of the relegation zone with a 2-0 win over Everton.
Tielemans opened the scoring in outstanding fashion when he rocketed an effort over Jordan Pickford before the break, and Harvey Barnes made sure of the points five minutes from time.
But it was James Maddison who
Brendan Rodgers wanted to praise after the match.
“This boy is built for a World Cup. This boy can go into a 150,000 stadium, it doesn’t matter,” said the Foxes boss.
“He can take the ball, he’ll pass the ball, he’ll be creative. That’s his stage. That’s why I keep getting asked questions about him.
“He’s one of the best players in the Premier League, who happens to be English. He’s such a brilliant guy who has matured.
“Don’t get me wrong – I left this player out of an FA Cup Final because of certain aspects of his game I didn’t like. But he’s always responded.”
■ Wolves have announced Julen Lopetegui as the club’s new head coach.
The former Spain, Real Madrid and Sevilla boss will take charge on November 14, subject to being granted work permits.
Steve Davis remains in interim charge for Saturday’s match against Brighton.
Wolves chairman Jeff Shi said: “Julen is a top coach, with excellent experience at an elite level of the game.
“Since the very beginning, Julen has been our No. 1 choice, and we look forward to welcoming him and his team when they join us in the coming weeks.”