Arsenal’s lead cut to three

Manchester City moved to within three points of Arsenal in the Premier League title race as they eased to a 3-0 win over Fulham.

Having come through an acid test at Anfield by claiming a late 2-1 win over Liverpool, City had a significantly easier time of it against Fulham, who saw another loss added to their miserable record in this fixture.

City went into the game having won their previous 19 meetings with Fulham in all competitions, the longest winning run one side has had against another in English football history.

That record being stretched to 20 games was essentially all but confirmed by half-time as Antoine Semenyo opened the scoring before Nico O’Reilly and Erling Haaland gave City complete control.

Fulham had fought back from 3-0 down in the reverse fixture in December, which ended in a 5-4 City win, but the prospect of a repeat was never on the cards.

The focus now switches to Arsenal, who will hope to re-establish a six-point advantage when they make the short trip to Brentford on Thursday.

Manchester City continue Fulham dominance

City were in control from the off, with Phil Foden seeing a volley deflected over and then shooting straight at Bernd Leno after the hosts found joy down the right.

Matheus Nunes was thwarted at the far post by Leno, but there was nothing the German could do to prevent Semenyo prodding in a 24th-minute opener from point-blank range after Sander Berge had inadvertently headed a right-wing cross into his path. Semenyo’s goal marked his sixth against Fulham in his Premier League career.

Gianluigi Donnarumma was forced to produce a strong save to prevent Harry Wilson from quickly restoring parity, but a swift and free-flowing move from City saw them double their advantage as Semenyo played through O’Reilly to beat Leno with a superb lofted finish.

And Haaland gave Fulham a mountain to climb with his eighth goal in as many Premier League games against the Cottagers, his unerring finish into the bottom-right corner leaving Marco Silva’s men with the same task they faced at Craven Cottage.

Despite Raul Jimenez seeing two chances go begging and Emile Smith Rowe narrowly missing out on getting a telling touch on a ball across the face of goal, a fightback always looked beyond Fulham.

Indeed, chances were few and far between in a second half in which City took their foot off the gas having withdrawn Haaland at half-time. While City failed to win by a more emphatic scoreline and surpass Arsenal in terms of goal difference, they will be grateful for a low-key second half on the back of their considerable exertions at Anfield.