Manchester City have set a new English football record after cruising to a 4-0 victory away against Fulham in the Premier League on Saturday.
Defender Josko Gvardiol prolonged his purple patch in front of goal with a brace, while star attacker Phil Foden and substitute Julian Alvarez were also on target to help the Citizens move two points clear at the top of the table.
Gvardiol opened the scoring for City inside the first 13 minutes, coolly slotting a right-footed finish into the bottom corner after receiving a through-ball from assist king Kevin De Bruyne following a well-worked passing sequence.
Fulham struggled to lay a glove Pep Guardiola‘s dominant side, who added a second just before the hour mark when Foden fired a first-time shot into the bottom corner from the edge of the penalty area – his 25th goal of the season in all competitions.
Gvardiol then scored his second of the afternoon and fifth in seven games with a close-range finish at the far post, meeting a curling cross from Bernardo Silva, before Alvarez converted from the penalty spot deep into stoppage time to cap a comprehensive victory for the reigning champions.
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Man City make history with comfortable Fulham win
Man City have now extended their unbeaten run in the top flight to 21 matches and are showing no signs of slowing down in their pursuit of an unprecedented fourth consecutive title.
The Citizens’ impressive head-to-head record against Fulham has also continued as they have now won each of their last 16 meetings with the Cottagers across all competitions.
As a result, City have set a new record for the longest winning run any team has had against another in competitive English football history, surpassing their own winning streaks of 15 against both Bournemouth and Watford.
In addition, Guardiola’s side have won each of their last seven Premier League matches by at least two goals, their joint-longest run of victories when winning by more than one goal each time, having previously enjoyed a run of seven between May and August 2015.
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Guardiola: ‘Great players enjoy great pressure’
Man City remain in the driving seat to pip title rivals Arsenal to top-flight glory once again, and Guardiola believes his players are relishing the pressure at this crucial stage of the season.
“The great players enjoy playing with great pressure,” Guardiola told BBC Match of the Day. “These players in the last few years have been able to do it and we are again in the latter stages.
“Our dream is as we said a few weeks ago when they [Arsenal] lost against Aston Villa was to arrive in the last games with it in our hands, to play West Ham at home with the destiny belonging to us.
“We did a really good job today. The first ten minutes we struggled because as always they defend really well. When [Bernardo Silva] and [Mateo Kovacic] and Rodri make a long action with a lot of passes and calmed the game and then Josko managed to get the goal – could have signed the best winger on the planet.
“We played really well and now we recover, go back to Manchester, then come back to London to play the final [against Spurs] the big final we have to try and retain our title.”
Man City will hope that rival Manchester United can do them a favour on Sunday when they play host to Arsenal, before preparing for a trip to North London to face Tottenham Hotspur in their penultimate Premier League fixture on Tuesday.
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