Man City 2-0 Fulham, Player Ratings: De Bruyne stars as City pick up all three points
A 2-0 victory over Fulham gave Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City side their first back-to-back victory in the Premier League this season, following last week’s 5-0 annihilation of Burnley.
It was a pretty pedestrian win for the former English champions but that doesn’t mean there weren’t some particularly impressive performances from some of Guardiola’s stars.
✔️ GOOD PERFORMANCE
While Saturday’s match was always going to be one that Man City turned to their attacking players to win, it was Guardiola’s man in the middle of the pitch that out performed most of the players on the pitch.
Rodri, the Spanish central defender, was second only to Ilkay Gundogan for total passes throughout the match with a 92 percent completion rate. As well as that, no City player made more interceptions than the 24-year-old midfielder.
❌ BAD PERFORMANCE
Despite losing the match by two early goals, most of Fulham’s players came out of the game with pass marks. As such, the poorest performance probably came from City striker Gabriel Jesus.
The Brazilian striker had a full 90 minutes to prove his worth to Guardiola’s side but failed to attempt a single shot throughout the match. On top of that, he managed just 38 passes and lost the ball 12 times.
Fortunately for the young forward, his teammates were on hand to break the deadlock and win all three points for their side.
⭐ STAR MAN
When Kevin de Bruyne ticks Manchester City tend to tick. It’s usually as simple as that for Guardiola’s side.
Indeed, the Belgium international was at the heart of everything City did. Against a stubborn Fulham defence, it was De Bruyne who picked out the run of Raheem Sterling to break the deadlock in the fifth minute and then doubled his side’s lead in the 26th minute with a well-taken penalty kick.
It’ll come as little surprise to City fans that their team looked so much better with De Bruyne on the scoresheet, with the attacking midfielder only scoring one prior to Saturday’s match throughout a stuttering start to the season for Guardiola’s side.
Manchester City 2-0 Fulham: Player Ratings, Match Stats, Player Stats