Mateo Kovacic scored twice for Manchester City as they came from behind to beat Fulham 3-2 at the Etihad Stadium.

The Croatian struck either side at half-time after Andreas Pereira had given the visitors a shock lead following a sensational backheel assist from Raul Jimenez in the 26th minute.

Jeremy Doku, who replaced Jack Grealish with half an hour to play, scored with a vicious strike in the 82nd minute before Rodrigo Muniz pulled one back with two minutes to play.

However, City held on and the victory moves Pep Guardiola’s side second in the Premier League, one point behind Liverpool after they beat Crystal Palace 1-0 earlier in the day.

Here, Sam Lee breaks down the key talking points from the match.

How did Kovacic perform in Rodri’s absence?

The Croatian midfielder played a fascinating match. He crashed in a much-needed equalizer, via a deflection, from a rare City corner that didn’t seem to lead to a counter-attack, and put City ahead not long after the break with a brilliantly taken effort.

On the other hand, he contributed quite a lot to Fulham’s counter-attacks, namely by giving the ball away cheaply. Under these circumstances there will be obvious comparisons with Rodri, and the two complement each other very well, even if Kovacic is simply not the same type of player as the Spaniard. He will adopt a more front-foot approach with direct passes, which carry the risk of missing the mark.

Mateo Kovacic scored both of Manchester City’s goals against Fulham.

He last scored more than once in a club match in August 2014, when he scored a hat-trick against Iceland’s Stjarnan for Inter in the Europa League. pic.twitter.com/YKX1qZxwXk

— Opta analyst (@OptaAnalyst) October 5, 2024

Generally, Guardiola’s City teams prefer this, especially in the middle of the pitch, where a misplaced pass can create danger. This may be why Guardiola is so keen to have Rico Lewis in the middle, even alongside Ilkay Gundogan and Phil Foden (the sheer number of players there could compensate for a lack of physicality).

“Of course I like it when I have support, because I haven’t played that much there on my own,” Kovacic, who was man of the match against Fulham, told reporters during the preparation. “I think it is more difficult because you have to cover the space better. You are on your own; you are not in a two.

“So it’s harder, but it’s something I can improve on. And if there’s anywhere you can improve, I think it’s here at City.”

Fulham’s fast breaks and fantastic assists

Fulham’s counter-attacking threat was clear and City struggled to deal with it. Whether it came from a failed City corner or the open play failed, the visitors were fully prepared to surge forward at high speed.

Adama Traore was the obvious outlet, especially against the physically inferior Lewis, or in the space the 19-year-old is allowed to leave, but one of the most dangerous breaks in the first half came down the right, landing at the feet of Traore.

Traore avoids Kovacic (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)

City normally keep these things in check by competing hard to win the second balls when they fall, and although they did everything they could, sometimes they came out second – or perhaps didn’t quite have the courage on the day to anticipate where the ball would fall. ball would fall. This was especially true of Pereira’s opening goal, which followed a sublime, no-look backheel assist from Jimenez, which fell perfectly for his teammate just ahead of Ederson.

Whenever Fulham broke in the first half – which was exactly every few minutes, but enough to keep City honest – it seemed Guardiola’s men simply couldn’t keep up with the players running the other way. City kept things under control for nine minutes in the second half until Traore drilled through three players, which appeared to prompt Guardiola to bring on Kyle Walker, but as a centre-back rather than right-back, allowing Lewis to pick up where he was. he was.

The logic seemed logical: get more out of Lewis’ advantages and get Walker there to cover up the disadvantages. In reality, Traore soon outpaced Walker and Fulham should have been level, and there was another break that saw City out again after losing the ball on the wing.

Lewis vs Traore: a microcosm of the match

It would be overly simplistic to reduce the entire scenario – or even the entire game – to the individual battle between Lewis and Traore, but there are some parallels. Lewis and City are built for crafty, intricate passes between the lines. Traore and Fulham are built to run fast in open spaces.

Both approaches have their advantages and both cause problems. City had by far the most shots, passes and ball possession and therefore also the most goals. But Fulham caused plenty of problems and after taking the lead they could have doubled the lead shortly afterwards after another fast break.

(Gareth Copley/Getty Images)

This was seen in the battle between Lewis and Traore. Lewis brings a lot to City, especially when they look for extra men in midfield, who are very neat in small spaces, and that has caused problems for Fulham.

But his height and build do not make him suitable for muscular fighting and they are no stronger than Traore, who could concentrate more on his strengths. He shrugged off Lewis’s scoreline, but was denied by a fine save from Ederson, and it was he who should have made it 2-0.

He could also have equalized after beating Walker, who had come on as a substitute to prevent just that, but Ederson saved again. Lewis soon moved permanently into midfield (he picked up a knockdown from Erling Haaland and drove onto the pitch to set up Doku for the third goal) after Guardiola had shaken the defense.

But for 78 minutes it was an interesting clash of styles for players in opposing positions, and one that summed up the overall flow of the match.

What did Pep Guardiola say?

On the game: “The (Fulham) chances were mainly created with Adama (Traore), because he’s impossible to stop, that guy. I think the game was well played in the first half, but there were one or two transitions. They forced saves from Edi and you feel: ‘Oh my God’. But the performance was good. It was a tough match, we knew that. We spoke to the team and said it would be a tough game today after a Champions League match (Tuesday against Slovan Bratislava), and Fulham had a long week.

“They have only lost one game this season. Marco (Silva) is an exceptional manager with them and he keeps getting better every year. But if we get an incredible win here at the Etihad Stadium it’s because some of them have been won that way. Life isn’t always easy.”

What next for Manchester City?

Sunday October 20: Wolverhampton Wanderers (A), Premier League, 2pm UK, 9am ET

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(Top photo: Gareth Copley/Getty Images)