Fancy a bit of history? Under the floodlights of this storied old ground you were welcome to take your pick. The inevitable Erling Haaland smashed through the 100-goal barrier and a Premier League record. Phil Foden scored his second double in four days. City raced to a 5-1 lead before an hour was even on the clock only for Fulham to come agonisingly close to parity by the end. All of that resulted in the seventh highest-scoring match in three decades of the Premier League. Not bad.
The pendulum swung throughout the contest in movements big and small. City set off with gusto and looked to have sealed the result with two short spells of dominance before and after half-time. But Fulham had more shots and more possession and were in charge of the match from the moment Alex Iwobi calmly scored their second 12 minutes into the second half. City have the points on the board in their ongoing pursuit of Arsenal, they could not disguise defensive vulnerabilities. Fulham, meanwhile, were unable to halt a run of defeats against City that now runs to an astonishing 19, but yet showed they could compete with anyone.
There were signs this match might prove exceptional within the first five minutes, when Haaland conspired to miss a one-on-one. Played in by Foden, he wrapped a shot beyond Bernd Leno but watched stunned as the ball hit the post and ran across the face of goal. Was this a bad omen for the Norwegian, who had been sitting on 99 goals in the English top flight for all of two games? It turned out not: 12 minutes later he opened the scoring, punching the ball through a sprawling Leno after Tijjani Reijnders had dummied a Jérémy Doku cross.
A calm celebration followed, arms quietly aloft, but it was quite the achievement. Despite the 180‑minute wait Haaland had become the fastest player to register a Premier League century and by some distance. Alan Shearer, the previous record holder, required 124 games to reach the milestone, Harry Kane 141. Haaland had done it in just 111.
The travelling City fans, who were in good voice, belted out the name of their No 9 and Haaland soon produced another decisive moment for his team. With 37 minutes on the clock and Rúben Dias on the ball on the halfway line, he dropped deep from his customary hunting ground, and sent his marker Joachim Andersen for a loop. Spinning past the Dane as he tried to close ground, Haaland prodded a pass into the vacated space where Reijnders ran on to scoop the ball over Leno and double the lead.
Two then became three when Leno opted to punch clear a corner he could have caught and the ball dropped into Foden territory on the right-hand side of the box. Hot on the heels of his exploits against Leeds, the England man was in total control of matters as he took a touch and bent a beautiful left-foot effort inside the far post. Even then, the half still was not over as Fulham gave themselves a modicum of hope when Emile Smith Rowe looped a diving header over Gianluigi Donnarumma from a sweet Harry Wilson cross.
That hope endured the length of the half-time break, and another 120 seconds or so, then City once again pulled away. They scored their fourth in the 48th minute, a three-man break still enough to cut Fulham open with Doku’s cross finding Foden via Haaland’s back-heel and the midfielder finishing calmly. Six minutes later City made it five; Doku robbed Andersen on the edge of the penalty area and his shot took a big deflection off Sander Berge and in past Leno.
That would surely be that. But Fulham never looked cowed and when the dependable Iwobi sidefooted home from the edge of the box after City failed to clear a Wilson cross, there was a sudden change in atmosphere. The crowd led the shift, roaring the team on with an almost perverse sense of encouragement.
After Haaland hit the post again with a towering header, the half-time substitute Samuel Chukwueze, scored his first and second Premier League goals in short order. The first was drilled home from the edge of the box but took the video assistant referee an age to confirm. The second came after Donnarumma delivered his own weak punch from a corner, Chukwueze drilling it back past the Italian with interest.
When the assistant referee flashed eight minutes of added time, it felt like the most chaotic of draws was almost inevitable. And when the sprightly Josh King received the ball in the box, shifted and got a low shot off, it felt like the moment had arrived.
But Josko Gvardiol scooped the ball clear while on his heels, the whistle blew shortly afterwards, and whatever magic had descended on south-west London was dispersed into the night, along with an enraptured crowd.
