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Mateo Kovacic scored either side of half-time to lift Manchester City to an entertaining 3-2 win over Fulham at the sun-drenched Etihad Stadium on Saturday as the home side held on to second place in the Premier League standings.

Pep Guardiola’s men have 17 points after seven games, one point behind leaders Liverpool, while Marco Silva’s Fulham are sixth with 11 points.

While City dominated possession early on, Fulham grew into the match and were first on the scoresheet when Andreas Pereira crossed the ball home in the 26th minute after a tricky backheel from Raul Jimenez.

City equalized six minutes later as Fulham struggled to clear a corner and the ball fell to Kovacic, who took one touch before firing the ball home. The midfielder got his second in the 47th minute when he collected a pass from Jack Grealish and fired home another ball. great finish from the edge of the area.

Jeremy Doku gave City a two-goal lead in the 82nd minute with a rocket into the top corner for his first goal of the season. Rodrigo Muniz pulled one back for the visitors in the 88th minute, but City held on to win.