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Fulham 1-4 Manchester City
Match Reports, 19:16, November 21, 2010 , | No Comments
Manchester City hit back at their critics with an emphatic 4-1 victory over Fulham at Craven Cottage with Carlos Tevez at the double.
Fulham entered the game just above the relegation zone after a stuttering start to the season while Manchester City have had to face up to plenty of criticism of their style after successive goalless draws.
Roberto Mancini handed a rare start to Brazilian striker Jo but it was another South American who opened the scoring after just six minutes as Carlos Tevez held off Carlos Salcido to slide coolly past Mark Schwarzer.
Early goals have a habit of easing the nerves and it had the desired effect for City here as they broke free from their shackles to run Fulham ragged throughout the first half.
World Cup winner David Silva floated expertly into space and the second goal arrived just after the half hour when the Spaniard's low cross was cleared only as far as Pablo Zabaleta who smashed the ball into the top corner from the edge of the box.
When the third arrived just three minutes later thanks to Yaya Toure's smart finish to a flowing City counter attack it appeared that the floodgates could have truly opened but, to Fulham's credit, they improved markedly after the break.
Despite being booed off at the break the Cottagers set about their task with renewed vigour after the break only to receive a sucker punch in the form of a fourth City goal as Zabaleta's shot took a bizarre deflection off Tevez and looped into the back of the net on 56 minutes.
Zoltan Gera's deflected drive pulled one back for Fulham with 20 minutes to go but it proved to be nothing more than scant consolation for Mark Hughes' side who, unfortunately for them, encountered a City side determined to prove their doubters wrong.
Fulham remain in 17th spot while City haul themselves back into the top four and are truly back in the title race after this emphatic win.
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