Fulham and Man City laid down a marker for the most entertaining game of the Premier League season at Craven Cottage on Tuesday, with Pep Guardiola’s side coming out eventual 5-4 winners.
Erling Haaland opened the scoring, becoming the fastest player in the competition’s history to score 100 goals, needing just 111 games to reach the milestone. Tijjani Reijnders and Phil Foden made it 3-0 before Emile Smith Rowe pulled one back just ahead of the break.
Foden scored his second and City’s fourth almost immediately after the two sets of players came back out, and a Sander Berge own goal had City cruising. Fulham weren’t giving up without a fight, though.
Alex Iwobi got another goal back and a brace in the span of just six minutes from Samuel Chukwueze, making things tense for the visitors. City got the win over the line, though, and there are plenty of things we learned.
Phil Foden is well and truly back
There have been a few false dawns, but after Foden’s performance here, we can confidently say that he is well and truly back to his best after a relatively disappointing 18 months for the England international.
His first goal was so well taken. After a little bit of pinball in the Fulham box from a Man city corner, the ball fell to Foden, who was completely unmarked at the edge of the box, and he guided the ball into the back of the net, leaving Bernd Leno with no hope.
As for Foden’s second, he got a bit of luck when Haaland’s unintentional touch ended up right in front of him, but the run to get in that position was fantastic. No Fulham player picked him up, and he was in the right place at the right time, just like he used to be.
City have been crying out for someone to help relieve some pressure on Haaland, not that he needs it, and Foden’s return to form could provide a secondary goal threat. A firing Foden could even make league leaders Arsenal nervous.
Emile Smith Rowe needs to start more
Only Marco Silva knows why the game against City was only Smith Rowe’s second Premier League start of the season. The former Arsenal youngster is arguably Fulham’s most creative player, but he hasn’t had much chance to prove it.
Smith Rowe ended the game as the most accurate passer of any outfield player to feature for 45 minutes or more with a 95 per cent success rate.
That’s quite the feat against a notoriously pass-happy Guardiola side.
Despite his lack of starts, Smith Rowe is currently Fulham’s joint second-highest scorer with two, averaging 0.53 goals every 90 minutes.
He also leads the way in xG generated per 90 with 0.40, so he is clearly getting into the right positions.
Having a consistent creative force would be a huge asset for Silva and Fulham. Smith Rowe should be given more opportunities to show how good he is.
Erling Haaland is (probably) the best goal scorer in Premier League history
It can’t be understated how truly absurd it is to score 100 goals in 111 Premier League games.
When Alan Shearer did it in 124, few thought it would ever be beaten, especially in such an intense competition.
If, and it’s a big IF, the Norwegian robot remains at Man City for the remainder of his recently signed nine-year contract, it is nothing short of an inevitability that he breaks Shearer’s record of 260.
Yes, there have been more complete strikers in the Premier League era, ones that contribute more defensively or creatively, but Haaland is a true anomaly in front of goal, and he’s probably the best the league has ever seen.