The perfect night for Manchester City.
On Tuesday, the Citizens swatted aside Bournemouth 3-1 at the Etihad, meaning they require just a point at Craven Cottage on the final day to secure a 15th successive season of Champions League football.
Well, given that the Sky Blues have won each of their last 17 meetings with Fulham, a sequence that dates back to 2011, one would imagine that they'll get the job done on the banks of the River Thames on Sunday.
Not only that, Rodri made his long-awaited return, introduced as a late substitute 240 days after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament rupture against Arsenal in September.
MixCollage-20-May-2025-09-49-PM-1023
Rodri Pep Guardiola Manchester City
Meantime, after the match, the Man City faithful paid tribute to Kevin De Bruyne, given that this was his last-ever appearance at the Etihad, widely considered to be the club's greatest-ever player.
Looking ahead to the future, one player in particular impressed on the evening, giving Pep Guardiola food for thought going forward into the Club World Cup and next season.
Kevin-De-Bruyne-Man-City
How Manchester City swatted Bournemouth aside
Man City's victory over Bournemouth was never really in doubt from the 14th minute onwards when Omar Marmoush's absolute thunderbolt broke the deadlock, thwacking the post on its way in, giving Kepa Arrizabalaga no chance whatsoever.
This was the best genre of goal; one where those in attendance are gasping with disbelief at what they've just witnessed each time the strike is replayed to them on the jumbotron.
Bernardo Silva lashed home a second on the cusp of half time, before the Cherries were presented with a glimmer of hope, with Mateo Kovačić sent off for a last-man foul on Evanilson.
Nevertheless, just six minutes later, Lewis Cook was also dismissed by referee Thomas Bramall for a knee-high tackle, extinguishing any hope of a comeback, before Nico González rubber-stamped the victory, scoring his first goal in the Premier League.
Daniel Jebbison did get Bournemouth on the board right at the death, very much of the consolation variety, and this did nothing to dampen the mood, with the Man City support in good voice and good spirits, and full credit to them, just three days after defeat in the FA Cup Final.
Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne reacts
With a Champions League spot now all but secured, planning can well and truly start for next season, so has one player in particular staked a claim to be a central pillar in Guardiola's future plans?
Man City star showed they can forget Wirtz
As was widely reported on Monday, including by Rob Dawson of ESPN, Manchester City have withdrawn their interest in Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Florian Wirtz due to the amount of money the deal would cost in terms of both transfer fee and wages.
florian-wirtz-bayer-leverkusen-atletico
Paul Hirst and Paul Joyce of the Times claim that die Werkself valued the 22-year-old at £126m, with Bayern Munich currently his most-likely destination, although Liverpool and Real Madrid remain interested.
For Man City, they won't be getting their hands on Wirtz, but they did sign another Bundesliga superstar back in January that may help mitigate this blow.
Marmoush's strike against Bournemouth, which we've already mentioned, was breathtaking, continuing his rich goal-scoring form since arriving from Eintracht Frankfurt for a reported fee of £63m earlier this year.
MixCollage-20-May-2025-09-45-PM-1054-1
Omar Marmoush Manchester City
His sublime performance on Tuesday evening showed the Egyptian at his best.
Marmoush is both a creator and a goal-scorer, taking his tally to eight in Manchester City colours, these coming in just 21 appearances to date, with all seven of his Premier League strikes coming at the Etihad, most notably bagging a hat-trick against Newcastle in February.
Omar Marmoush statistics vs Bournemouth
Statistics
Goals
Shots on target
Shots of target
Shots blocked
Passing accuracy
Key passes
Sofascore rating
All statistics courtesy of SofaScore
This is on top of the 20 goals he managed for Frankfurt before making the move, with only five players scoring more Bundesliga goals than him this season, namely Harry Kane, Serhou Guirassy, Patrik Schick, Jonathan Burkardt, Tim Kleindienst, despite his winter departure.
Analyst Ben Mattinson described Marmoush as a "proper maverick", while Sultan Babajide of Breaking the Lines documents how he is a 'versatile player' who is 'capable of being important in every phase of play', praising his 'technical skills, tactical understanding, and strong work ethic'.
Meantime, Karim El-Shesheiny of Total Football Analysis outlines how the Egyptian can be deployed in many 'different positions' across the forward line, adding that he is more 'dynamic' than most other forwards, while also 'good at defending' out of possession.
Marmoush-Man-City
So, what is clear is that Marmoush is a very well-rounded attacker, both capable of creating chances, but also scoring them himself from all distances.
Thus, while many of Europe's biggest clubs are searching for a new striker, Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Juventus and many more, Man City managed to snap one up, even though they already have Erling Haaland in their ranks of course, a duo most teams around the world will be envious of.
wirtz-man-city-rodri Related
[Forget Wirtz: Man City set to make bid for "world-class" £70m midfielder](https://www.footballfancast.com/forget-wirtz-man-city-set-to-make-bid-for-tijjani-reijnders/ "Forget Wirtz: Man City set to make bid for "world-class" £70m midfielder")
With Manchester City now out of the running to sign Florian Wirtz, are they stepping up their interest to sign a different "world-class" midfielder?