Man City 3-0 Fulham: Semenyo, O’Reilly and Haaland score

Make no secret of it, City are indeed in this title race.

Guardiola’s side had gone four matches without a win at the start of the year, but responded by winning three of the last four, with the 2-2 draw at Tottenham – after being 2-0 up – the only slight blemish.

Victory against Fulham reinforced the Etihad Stadium as a fortress for City, extending their unbeaten home run to 12 games and now taking 47 points from a possible 54 – it’s the type of run that could prove crucial in the race for the top flight crown.

Striker Semenyo has fitted in seamlessly since his £62.5 million move from the Cherries and he left his mark on the game by scoring and providing an assist to take his tally to 17 league goals this season.

City were in such a dominant position at the break that Guardiola could afford to take Haaland off after the Norwegian scored his 22nd league goal of the campaign and eighth in as many appearances against Fulham.

England’s Foden, meanwhile, was left on the bench at Anfield and although he started that game and looked lively for the most part, he failed to get on the scoresheet after seeing a low shot saved by goalkeeper Leno, and has now gone 14 games without a goal.

The result means City have continued their remarkable run of midweek games as they are now unbeaten in 56 such encounters – a record that dates back to 2010.