Erling Haaland scored his 100th Premier League in the quickest time ever but Manchester City had to endure another nerve-wracking end to a game against Fulham, which was slipping from their grasp.
The Norway international, who also provided two assists on Tuesday, had initially struck the frame of the goal just six minutes in before forcing his side into the lead after 17 minutes.
A powerful effort meant the striker inducted himself into the history books once again before City powered ahead, with further goals from Phil Foden and Tijjani Reijnders giving the visitors a three-goal lead.
Meanwhile, Fulham showed fight with EmileSmith Rowe**** pulling one back before the half-time interval. But in an end-to-end affair that only seemed to be getting more and more entertaining, City ran away for a second time; this time through Foden's second and a Sander Berge own goal.
Still, the fluctuation that Fulham have shown this season was depicted clearly throughout the 90 minutes here as another motivated push saw Alex Iwobi score, before Samuel Chukwueze added another two goals to make it 5-4 heading into the final 12 minutes of the clash.
Eventually, Guardiola’s side ran away victorious but the minority in the stands would have certainly been nervous as the second half proved to be another telling patch of reckless and imperfect football from City.
Story of the Match
This trip to London for Guardiola’s side meant that the away fans wouldn’t be able to sing their hearts out to Oasis, who are played at the conclusion of every home game at the Etihad Stadium.
But the sight of Noel Gallagher – who has just returned from the Oasis Live ‘25 world tour – in the away end at Craven Cottage may have just been enough for the visiting supporters to have something to cheer about.
That was until the 17th minute when those would have had something else to be content about as Haaland broke another record, becoming the fastest player to enter the **Premier League**’s 100 club – hitting the milestone 13 games sooner than the league’s all-time scorer Alan Shearer.
For all his physical and clinical dominance in front of goal, the Norway international could have opened the scoring just over 10 minutes earlier when a one-on-one which Bernd Leno ended in Haaland hitting the post from close range.
Foden found the net twice again as his form continued to sharpen (Photo by Vince Mignott/MB Media/Getty Images)
It was a chance well-squandered but the 25-year-old soon made his mark when Jeremy Doku crossed from inside the penalty area, the ball running through the legs of Tijjani Reijnders intentionally before Haaland struck thunderously past Leno.
From there, the game eventually evened out and Fulham created a handful of convincing opportunities coming from Emile Smith Rowe, who forced Gianluigi Donnarumma into an excellent save, and Harry Wilson, a proven threat after his stellar performance against Tottenham Hotspur last time out.
But a relentless recovery from those chances eventually saw City take their advantage to three goals, with Reijnders first slipping a polished finish over an onrushing Leno before Foden opened his account with a stunning strike on the edge of the area, which came on the back of a poor clearance from the Fulham ‘keeper.
There was a sudden and simple reply from Fulham and Smith Rowe in particular before the interval when an astonishing header left Donnarumma perplexed in the City goal; an inviting cross from Wilson put the ball on a tee for the attacker to guide it into the top-left corner.
With a deficit narrowing amongst the shift in momentum in favour of Marco Silva’s side, there were similar alarm bells ringing for City after they let a 2-0 lead slip at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
Chukwueze scored twice off the bench late on (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
However, nine minutes into the second period exhibited a flawless period from Guardiola’s side – and one that provided more goals as Foden and a Berge own-goal yielded fourth and fifth goals for the visiting outfit.
A struggling period for Foden seems to be going further beyond the star’s present form and a little bit of fortune, with the ball flicking off Haaland’s heel and running into the path of the England international at the back post, was merited through another notable performance.
The Stockport-born attacker finished lethally with a right-footed strike at the near post before Berge committed the unfortunate mistake of lunging in on a shot from Doku, which ended up in the back of Fulham’s net.
Three minutes later, Iwobi managed to flash a goal back which would have had Guardiola stressing given his side’s recent frailties, not helped by a further brace from Chukwueze.
But, with help after a goal-line clearance from Josko Gvardiol was launched away with 20 seconds of the eight minutes injury time remaining, the gap to Arsenal was closed momentarily to just two points as the City boss will be left questioning what could possibly be going wrong at the moment.