Pep Guardiola has perfect De Bruyne replacement as Man City go top

Manchester City overcame a shock injury to star Kevin De Bruyne to continue their Premier League title march with a victory over Fulham. A third-minute Erling Haaland penalty set the tone only for Fulham to pull level through Carlos Vinicius. However, Julian Alvarez’s curled effort put City back in control and despite a few nervous moments in the second half City held on to win 2-1 to go above Arsenal in the title race with a game in hand.

Alvarez is perfect replacement

When the news broke that Kevin De Bruyne was out of the City squad due to injury some might have feared the worst ahead of a busy end of the season. However, City boss Pep Guardiola had the perfect replacement in the form of World Cup winner Julian Alvarez.

The 23-year-old has been kept out the starting line-up by De Bruyne, Erling Haaland and Riyad Mahrez at times this season. The former River Plate star has made just eight starts and came on as a substitute 17 times – scoring seven goals – before their trip to Fulham. Coming in for the injured De Bruyne the Argentinian had the perfect impact being fouled inside the box after two minutes by defender Tim Ream and Haaland scored the resulting penalty.

When Fulham pulled a goal back the forward took matters into his own hands curling a wicked shot from outside the box which flew into the top corner. Alvarez continued to cause problems in the second half and was only denied a second goal by a Bernd Leno save.

READ MORE: Kevin De Bruyne brings Man City stars back down to earth after Arsenal win in treble quest

Harry Wilson provides moment of class to worry City

A routine afternoon in London for Manchester City was brought to a sudden halt when Fulham equalised on 15 minutes with Harry Wilson playing a key part. A long and hopeful ball into the box by Andreas Pereira found the head of Wilson who had ghosted between the two City central defenders.

Instead of going for goal himself the Welsh international dinked his header back into the path of Carlos Vinicius to fire past the goalkeeper and level the game. Fulham struggled to get the ball off title chasing City at times, but Wilson showed a glimpse of his class which will please Fulham fans.