IT was all set up to be a routine City victory.
Pep Guardiola's team bossed the possession from the off against a timid Fulham side, enjoying more than 75 per cent of the ball when they made their pressure tell in the 17th minute.
Ilkay Gundogan cut open the Cottagers with a ball slid through for Julian Alvarez to smash past Bernd Leno and set up a comfortable afternoon for the home team.
The only thing that could derail City was City themselves... and that is exactly what they did.
Nathan Ake failed to deal with a simple ball over the top and when Carlos Vinicius played in Harry Wilson in the box Joao Cancelo was inexplicably clumsy as he barged him to the floor to concede a penalty and earn a red card.
Cancelo was not great, and received an almighty rollocking from Guardiola as he left the pitch, but the greater fault lay in the collective team for allowing Cancelo - a man not known for world-class defending to be the last man: had no lessons been taken from defeat at Anfield?
This story is from the November 06, 2022 edition of MEN on Sunday.
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This story is from the November 06, 2022 edition of MEN on Sunday.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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