Fulham 1-2 Manchester City - Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez on target as City move above Arsenal in table

Manchester City beat Fulham 2-1 to leapfrog Arsenal and go top of the Premier League table after recording yet another impressive victory under pressure.

City flew out of the blocks and won a penalty inside 90 seconds when Julian Alvarez was brought down by Tim Ream. Erling Haaland stepped up to thump home City's opener and score his 50th goal in all competitions this season.

Marco Silva's side equalised with their first big chance of the afternoon when Harry Wilson intelligently nodded the ball into the path of Carlos Vinicius, who smashed his effort past Ederson and into the back of the net.

City stepped up their pursuit of a goal, and on 28 minutes Jack Grealish thought he had fired his side back ahead but his curling effort was tipped onto the crossbar by Bernd Leno.

Pep Guardiola's side took the lead with 10 minutes to go in the first half when Alvarez, with no real options to pass to, decided to go for goal and unleashed a stunning effort from distance which looped over Leno and into the top corner.

Leno was on hand with two stunning saves to keep Fulham in the game just four minutes apart in the second half, the first was a reaction save to his right to deny Haaland before pulling off a similar stop to thwart Alvarez to his left.

City controlled large periods of the second half as they looked to score a third goal to kill off the contest but had to settle for a nervy ending as they won 2-1.

After a 10-week absence from the top spot, Manchester City are back at the summit of the Premier League table. Arsenal went out into the lead and set the pace whilst City dropped points to Aston Villa, Everton and Liverpool but it always felt that when City clicked into gear with the quality they have, they would embark on one of their signature winning runs and that is exactly what they have done. They have now won eight consecutive Premier League matches and are unbeaten in their last 11. Their ruthless form on the home straight of the season is in stark contrast to Arsenal who haven't won any of their last four matches in the Premier League. Mikel Arteta's men can of course go back top if they beat Chelsea on Tuesday but City still have a game in hand on their North London title rivals and in this form they look like they could win every single match until the end of the season.

The World Cup winner was superb for Manchester City on his eighth start in the Premier League. Off the ball he was a constant menace, pressing Fulham defenders, making clever runs and generally being on the move. On the ball he was even better, it was Alvarez who won the penalty which Haaland converted for City's first and it was his wonderful strike from distance which put City 2-1 up and won them the game. He's had to be patient for chances but he definitely clutched the chance with both hands.

Fulham: Leno 8, Tete 6, Adarabioyo 7, Ream 5, Robinson 7, Reed 6, Palhinha 6, Wilson 6, Pereira 6, Decordova-Reid 6, Vinicius 7. Subs: Diop 6, Cairney 6, Lukic 6, James 6, Solomon 6

Man City: Ederson 6, Akanji 7, Dias 6, Walker 6, Rodri 7, Stones 8, Grealish 7, Gundogan 6, Alvarez 9, Mahrez 7, Haaland 8. Subs: Silva 6, Foden 6

3' GOAL - MANCHESTER CITY - Erling Haaland makes it 1-0 from the penalty spot and scores his 50th (Fiftieth!) goal in all competitions this season.

15' GOAL - FULHAM - Marco Silva's side have equalised through Carlos Vinicius! They've hardly had a sniff but they are level! Harry Wilson heads the ball into the path of Carlos Vinicius who fires it past Ederson.

28' GREALISH STRIKES THE CROSSBAR! - Erling Haaland helps the ball out to Jack Grealish on the left and he curls an effort looking for the top corner, Leno gets a hand on it and diverts it onto the crossbar.

36' GOAL - MANCHESTER CITY - Julian Alvarez has scored an absolutely stunning goal. The World Cup winner collects the ball around 30 yards out, comes forward and there aren't many options for him so elects to thump it from outside the penalty area and it flies past Leno into the top corner.

47' A SUPERB SAVE TO DENY HAALAND - Grealish finds Haaland who sharply fires an effort that is destined for the bottom corner but Leno gets across superbly to save it.

Manchester City's run of eight consecutive Premier League games is the longest winning run in 2022/23, overtaking Arsenal's run of seven wins in a row between February and April.