At the moment, it is not difficult to predict who is Manchester City's top scorer. However, the identity of the second name on the list will surely surprise many people. Pep Guardiola's squad has a world-class striker in Erling Haaland, along with many other midfielders who also possess impressive goalscoring ability.
But not Mateo Kovacic. He may be a Champions League winner, a World Cup finalist and an impressive passer of the ball. But the Croatia international seems a stranger to scoring. "Kovacic is not a goalscorer," Guardiola said.
In a club career spanning 553 games, Kovacic had never scored twice in a game. Now he has done it, and beyond the statistical significance, it is a red flag for The Citizens.
Man City have now extended their unbeaten run at home to 50 games in all competitions (excluding the penalty shootout with Real Madrid). However, they were trailing Fulham until the Croatian came on. Rodri has a habit of scoring important goals and Kovacic is at least ready to do so.
It is worth mentioning that Kovacic's number of goals is currently three times more than Phil Foden, Ilkay Gundogan or Kevin de Bruyne this season.
As Man City ended their two-game winless run in the Premier League, the game revolved around two players whose main weakness was their inability to score. Adama Traore had a winning double at the Etihad but that was five years ago and for Wolves. Fulham seemed to have used a similar formula to beat Man City, with speed on the counter-attack.
The problem was that Traore illustrated why his 379-game career has yielded just 32 goals. The Spaniard had three good chances and missed them all.
Man City's Jeremy Doku also has some similarities to Traore. The Belgian is quick and seemingly unstoppable when dribbling. However, Doku's finishing is extremely poor.
Fulham's starting line-up, sacrificing Emile Smith Rowe for the solidity of Sander Berge, helped them build a foundation in midfield and cause problems for Man City.
"We had four clear chances to score. Looking at the chances we created and comparing them to Man City, we deserved more from this match. We have to be proud of the performance but not satisfied with the result" - Marco Silva lamented after the match.
The Premier League champions struggled against Fulham but there is no denying that their ability to come back from behind is increasingly impressive. They have trailed in all four of their home games and have picked up 10 points.
The last visiting team to win at the Etihad was Brentford, before the 2022 World Cup. However, if Traore had been sharper or had a bit of Kovacic’s luck, City’s run could have ended at 49.
