Silva stars as Manchester City climb back to the top
Bernardo Silva fired Manchester City back to the Premier League summit as Pep Guardiola’s men coasted to a 2-0 win at Fulham.
Portugal star Silva notched his 11th goal in all competitions this term, before setting up Sergio Aguero for a neat finish at Craven Cottage.
Aguero extended his lead at the top of the Premier League’s scoring chart, with his 19th top-flight strike of yet another glittering campaign.
City racked up their 11th win in their last 12 outings in all competitions, leapfrogging rivals Liverpool to top the pile.
Guardiola’s masterful City never even moved out of second gear in a relaxed victory which maintains their bid for an unprecedented quadruple.
Fulham now go on to Tuesday night’s Vicarage Road encounter with Watford, where defeat could yet confirm their relegation back to the Championship.
Caretaker manager Scott Parker has added shape and impetus to the Cottagers in a poor top-flight campaign, but that is bound to prove too little, too late.
City dominated at a stroll, right from the off, and the day belonged to Silva.
He stroked home a neat opener on just five minutes, pouncing on Timothy Fosu-Mensah’s poor misplaced pass.
A meandering encounter quickly ensued, with City so confident in their ability to canter to victory that they allowed Fulham a modicum of possession.
No high-octane pressing was required given Fulham’s profligacy with the ball however, and when Aguero doubled the visitors’ lead, the game was done and dusted inside half an hour.
The Argentina forward latched onto Silva’s smart inside ball, steadying himself before chipping the advancing Sergio Rico.
Guardiola withdrawing Aguero before the hour spoke volumes about how much of a procession the match had become, though Gabriel Jesus’ arrival hardly lowered the quality.
The final half-hour passed almost entirely without incident, save for Raheem Sterling’s delightfully delayed through-ball so nearly yielding a third City goal.
England forward Sterling waited long enough for his international colleague Kyle Walker to race past him on the overlap, only for the full-back’s fierce drive to strike the post.
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