Manchester City 4 Fulham 0 : Player Ratings and MOTM
By David Crook
Manchester City eased to FA Cup victory over Fulham, thanks in part to an early red card for the visitors.
Even VAR struggled to ruin Manchester City’s day – despite the rain, as a red card on 6 minutes for the Fulham Captain put paid to their contribution to the game. From that moment on, it was simply a case of how many would City score.
It finished with four goals, but should have been a lot more. However, today City were seemingly content to idle the ball around midfield. The man I felt most sorry for was Claudio Bravo, who took to jogging on the spot to try and keep warm.
He was not the only under employed member of the City team on the day. Neither Nicolas Otamendi or Eric Garcia were troubled as Fulham failed to muster any kind of shot at all.
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After dropping to ten men, Fulham were using all their energy to retain a defensive shape, and their forays across the half way line dwindled as the rain fell.
City, who were 2 goals to the good after just 20 minutes, turned the match into a low intensity training exercise. On the sidelines Pep Guardiola twitched and urged his team to give up conserving energy.
As Fulham tired, City added two more goals, both thanks to the pressing of Gabriel Jesus. Fulham simply accepted their fate and the players all passed the time waiting for the referee to bring matters to a close.
We look back at the Manchester City individual player performances and award our player ratings. One player stood out and we made him our Man of the Match, but can you guess who that was?
We start by looking at the defensive unit.