Manchester City 3-2 Fulham: Pep Guardiola’s men inch past Cottagers thanks to Mateo Kovacic double to go 50 unbeaten at the Etihad

There is always at least one. Always a match, in October or November, when Manchester City laces its boots on the wrong feet. This felt like most of Pep Guardiola’s players tied pairs together and just left them confused.

They stumbled, stumbled violently, but just kept their balance. City have Ederson to thank for that, and certainly the riotous Adama Traore – who Guardiola has chased in this area before – and the roar at full-time suggested relief. ‘Difficult?’ Guardiola asked. ‘No. So easy.’ Easy to keep your sense of humor when the points are surprisingly safe.

It is a curious quirk of Guardiola’s reign that these appearances take place around the same time every season. Gone is the adrenaline of August, the excitement of going back to school, and once autumn hits, teams like Wolves (twice), Brentford, Leicester City and Crystal Palace have feasted on a City display prone to rapid counter-attacks due to their own malaise in possession.

Fulham should have added themselves to that list. Traore was twice thwarted by Ederson when he was clean through, with the Brazilian’s legs saving City on both occasions, and the Spain international had another presentable chance over the bar from eight yards, five years to the weekend since his late doubles gave Wolves a creditable win over the crossbar. Etihad Stadium.

Not this time, although City allowed substitute Rodrigo Muniz to pull them within a goal just before the end, leading to Ederson being shown a yellow card for wasting time. Peter Bankes’ actual yellow card seemed a bit harsh when the goalkeeper set up a free-kick in stoppage time and Guardiola acted in disbelief, warning himself of protests aimed at the fourth official. Nevertheless, perhaps a few raised eyebrows at the Emirates. The strange mutterings of the dark arts perhaps.

Fulham took a shock lead through former Man United man Andreas Pereira after a brutal Raul Jimenez back heel

Something special was needed to give Guardiola the breathing space he craved, and the erratic Jeremy Doku stepped up to take the responsibility.

Adama Traore had missed a series of good chances to demolish the champions

City might have used them a lot more to their advantage, to be honest, given the sight of Phil Foden rushing clear when they were 2-1 up with just 12 minutes to go. They haven’t succeeded particularly well and three points is something of an escape. A feeling washed over the face of a remorseful Marco Silva during a long debriefing with Guardiola afterwards. If Traore had done his job from that left wing, when he drove flawlessly in the way Fulham had drilled him, this could have turned out very differently. Guardiola admitted Traore is ‘unstoppable’ and ‘impossible to control’. Well, until the very last moment…

“We have to be unhappy,” said the Fulham manager. ‘That’s the feeling we all feel in the dressing room. The players stuck to the plan and executed it very well. We deserved more. To get here you need to score twice and get more clear chances to score. It gives us the feeling that we are going in the right direction and growing.’

Fulham should have been in the lead by the time Andreas Pereira slotted behind Manuel Akanji to force an extraordinary back-kick from Raul Jimenez after 26 minutes, and were left to count the costs of not taking most of their chances.

It allowed City to continue their search and equalize through Mateo Kovacic a few minutes after the half-hour mark when Ilkay Gundogan’s corner rattled and the Croatian rammed it past Bernd Leno via Joachim Andersen. An element of control had returned for Guardiola, who saw Kovacic cut in from the edge of the penalty area just after the break following Bernardo Silva’s cut-back. Remarkably, that represented the early part of Kovacic’s club career.

“When Fulham defended with five, no one can defend Kovacic,” Guardiola said. ‘We used that weapon. Now opponents know they can’t leave him alone.’

In addition to his goals, Kovacic tried to push City further. He did so with dedication, while also keeping an eye on himself in Rodri’s absence. But it would be wrong to lay the blame for the erratic nature of City’s vulnerability in transition purely on Rodri. Guardiola must work on finding a formula that works in the central areas and a big name – be it Gundogan, Kovacic or a defender – will have to be the fall guy.

That they have now failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last nine league matches, equaling an unwanted club record from 2015, is inescapable. But so does the fact that they are now only the fourth club in English history to go unbeaten for half a century in all competitions. A strange thing to summarize.

The latter is why the words ‘volem que et quedis’ hung from the South Stand before kick-off. We want you to stay in Catalan, a banner from fans begging Guardiola to sign another contract. Official communication about his next steps usually comes during the November international break, which is getting closer.

Kovacic had given the Etihad team the equalizer in the first half thanks to an assured finish

Rodrigo Muniz guided the ball in from 15 meters out for a grandstand finish

Pep Guardiola’s frustration boiled over late on and the Spaniard was shown a yellow card

Better tests of Fulham’s European ambitions lie ahead, but West London remains in sixth place

Meanwhile, City break their recent sluggishness to remain just one point behind Arne Slot’s Reds on 17 games from seven.

Things have changed in his time. City have generally gone back to more direct wingers, although both Savinho and Jeremy Doku have been on the bench before this. When Doku was finally called upon, he slipped in and thundered past a helpless Leno with eight minutes to go. Guardiola had previously called for defensive reinforcements, with the way substitute Kyle Walker finding himself being paced by Traore was an eye-opener, and Silva noted the champion’s late defensive mentality.

“You don’t often see City defending as deeply as they do at the end: three centre-backs, five at the back,” Silva noted. Still, Muniz was given too much space to turn and hammer past Ederson, forcing City to turn back the clock. That doesn’t happen often.