Pep Guardiola’s men have 17 points after seven games and are one point behind leaders Liverpool, while Marco Silva’s Fulham are sixth with 11 points.
Mateo Kovacic scored both sides of half-time to set Manchester City on their way to an entertaining 3-2 victory over Fulham at a sun-drenched Etihad Stadium on Saturday, as the hosts maintained their hold on second place in the Premier League standings.
City dominated possession in the opening minutes, but Fulham grew into the game and were first on the scoresheet in the 26th minute when Andreas Pereira stabbed it home after a crafty back heel from Raul Jimenez.
The City equalized six minutes later when Fulham could not clear a corner and the ball fell to Kovacic, who took one touch before slotting it home. The midfielder found his second in the 47th minute as he applied himself with equal ingenuity, this time following a pass from Jack Grealish with another terrific finish from the edge of the area. Jeremy Doku made City two goals up in the 82nd minute with a rocket into the top corner for his first goal of the season. Rodrigo Muniz grabbed one back for the visitors in the 88th minute, but City held on to win.