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At a glance Manchester City beat Fulham to close gap on Premier League leaders Arsenal to three points Antoine Semenyo, Nico O'Reilly and Erling Haaland score first half goals for City Fulham have now lost past 20 meetings against City PLAYER RATER Manchester City turned up the heat in the Premier League title race by taking apart Fulham in the first-half to close the gap on leaders Arsenal to just three points. The Gunners are looking over their shoulders before Thursday's trip to Brentford after Pep Guardiola's side backed up Sunday's last-gasp comeback at Liverpool by sealing a comfortable three points at Etihad Stadium. Three goals in the space of 15 first-half minutes inflicted the damage against the Cottagers, who have now suffered three consecutive defeats. The quickfire sequence of goals began when visiting midfielder Sander Berge miscued a clearing header into the path of Antoine Semenyo who poked home from close range for his fifth goal in eight game since signing for City in January. The Ghanaian then turned provider just six minutes later, sliding a pass onto the run of Nico O'Reilly to double the lead with a deft finish over the advancing Bernd Leno. And City sealed the points before half-time as Phil Foden found the run of Erling Haaland, who drilled home an unerring finish low into the bottom corner. Marco Silva's side will be ruing a missed opportunity by midfielder Harry Wilson, whose low strike at 1-0 down was batted away by Gianluigi Donnarumma. Antoine Semenyo scored his fifth goal in eight games since joining Manchester City in January Have your say on Man City’s performance What did you make of Fulham’s display? Make no bones about it, City are well and truly in this title race. Guardiola's side had gone four games without victory at the start of the year, but have responded by winning three of the last four, with the 2-2 draw at Tottenham - having been 2-0 ahead - the only slight blemish. Victory over Fulham reinforced Etihad Stadium as a fortress for City, extending their unbeaten home run to 12 games and now taking 47 points from a possible 54 – it is the type of run that could prove crucial in the chase for the top-flight crown. Forward Semenyo has settled in seamlessly since his £62. 5m move from the Cherries and he left his mark on the game by scoring and providing an assist to take his tally to 17 goal contributions in the league this season. City were in such a commanding position at the break that Guardiola could afford to take Haaland off after the Norwegian scored his 22nd league goal of the campaign and his eighth in as many appearances against Fulham. Englishman Foden, meanwhile, was left on the bench at Anfield and though he started this game and looked sprightly in most parts, he failed to get on the scoresheet after seeing a low shot batted away by goalkeeper Leno, and has now gone 14 games without a goal. The result means City continued their remarkable run in midweek games as they are now without defeat in 56 such encounters – a record which goes back all the way to 2010. Fulham have hit a rut with consecutive defeats leaving them 12th in the table, and they never looked like getting out of this game from the first whistle. The Cottagers' backline found it difficult to cope with City's high press and there was only pride to play for after conceding three times in the opening period. The latest defeat means Portuguese boss Silva has now remarkably lost all 14 Premier League meetings as manager against City, having also taken charge of Hull, Watford and Everton in the top-flight. Fulham's own record against City is a thoroughly wretched one, now suffering 20 straight losses against them in all competitions – the longest losing run against another side in English football history. It could have been a different story had Wilson converted in the first half, but they were made to pay dearly for the miss. Both of these two sides are in FA Cup fourth round action at the weekend. Manchester City host locals Salford City on Saturday (kick-off 15: 00 GMT), while Fulham travel to Championship side Stoke on Sunday (14: 00). After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users. Comments can not be loaded To load Comments you need to enable Java Script in your browser Last Updated 11th February 2026 at 21: 34 Please Note: All times UK. Tables are subject to change. The BBC is not responsible for any changes that may be made. Manager: Pep Guardiola Formation: 4 - 3 - 3 Manager: Marco Silva Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 Manager: Pep Guardiola Formation: 4 - 3 - 3 Manager: Marco Silva Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 Man City Manchester City Fulham Fulham High chance of scoring Medium chance of scoring Low chance of scoring Dominant period Match momentum measures the swing of the match by comparing each team’s threat to see who is more likely to score within that minute. The momentum value is the difference between each team’s most dangerous moment, or team threat, in that minute. Match momentum measures the swing of the match by comparing each team’s threat to see who is more likely to score within that minute. The momentum value is the difference between each team’s most dangerous moment, or team threat, in that minute. Man City Manchester City Man City Manchester City Man City Manchester City Man City Manchester City Man City Manchester City Man City Manchester City Man City Manchester City Man City Manchester City Man City Manchester City Man City Manchester City Man City Manchester City Man City Manchester City Man City Manchester City Man City Manchester City Man City Manchester City Man City Manchester City Man City Manchester City Man City Manchester City Man City Manchester City Man City Manchester City Man City Manchester City Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Man City Manchester City Fulham Fulham Man City Manchester City Man City Manchester City Man City Manchester City Man City Manchester City Man City Manchester City Man City Manchester City Man City Manchester City Man City Manchester City Man City Manchester City Man City Manchester City Man City Manchester City Man City Manchester City Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Man City Manchester City Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Man City Manchester City Man City Manchester City Man City Manchester City Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Man City Manchester City Man City Manchester City Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Man City Manchester City Man City Manchester City Man City Manchester City Man City Manchester City Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Man City Manchester City Man City Manchester City Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Man City Manchester City Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Fulham Premier League All competitions All competitions All competitions Manchester City have won their last 19 meetings with Fulham in all competitions, the longest winning run one side has had against another in English football history. Manchester City have won their last 16 Premier League meetings with Fulham, the longest winning run one side has had against another in English league history. Fulham have lost their last eight away league games against Man City by an aggregate score of 25-4, though three of their four Premier League victories against the Citizens have come at the Etihad Stadium. Manchester City haven’t lost any of their last 55 midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) Premier League home games (W47 D8) since a 1-0 loss to Tottenham in May 2010. Manchester City have picked up 44 points from a possible 51 in their last 17 home Premier League matches (W14 D2 L1) and are unbeaten in their last 11 at the Etihad (W9 D2), with only Sunderland (12) on a longer home unbeaten run. Fulham have won three out of 44 away Premier League matches against sides starting the day in the top three of the league (D9 L32), beating Man Utd in October 2003, Spurs in March 2013 and Chelsea in December 2024. Fulham boss Marco Silva has lost all 13 of his Premier League games against Manchester City, the most one manager has faced an opponent with a 100% loss rate. Man City’s Erling Haaland has been involved in 10 goals in just seven appearances against Fulham in the Premier League (7 goals, 3 assists). Man City’s Antoine Semenyo has been involved in five goals in his last three Premier League appearances against Fulham (3 goals, 2 assists), having a hand in all of Bournemouth’s goals in their 3-1 win against the Cottagers earlier this season (2 goals, 1 assist). Both Raúl Jiménez and Kevin scored in Fulham's 3-2 defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford earlier this month. The last Cottagers player to score away at both Man Utd and Man City in the same top-flight season was Pat O'Connell in 1962-63. Rayan Aït-Nouri (Manchester City) wins a free kick on the left wing. Foul by Kenny Tete (Fulham). Tijjani Reijnders (Manchester City) wins a free kick on the left wing. Foul by Kenny Tete (Fulham). Substitution, Fulham. Oscar Bobb replaces Harry Wilson. Substitution, Manchester City. Rayan Cherki replaces Phil Foden. Substitution, Manchester City. Nico González replaces Rodri. Omar Marmoush (Manchester City) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Foul by Kenny Tete (Fulham). Attempt missed. Rodrigo Muniz (Fulham) right footed shot from a difficult angle on the right misses to the left. Assisted by Kevin with a cross. Corner, Fulham. Conceded by Marc Guéhi. Foul by Tijjani Reijnders (Manchester City). Kenny Tete (Fulham) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Phil Foden (Manchester City) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul. Foul by Phil Foden (Manchester City). Calvin Bassey (Fulham) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Marc Guéhi (Manchester City) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Foul by Josh King (Fulham). Substitution, Fulham. Kevin replaces Samuel Chukwueze. Substitution, Fulham. Rodrigo Muniz replaces Raúl Jiménez. 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