Liverpool continued their impressive start to the season by securing a sixth successive victory in all competitions with victory at Crystal Palace – but it came at a cost as goalkeeper Alisson went off with an injury.
The early Premier League pacesetters took the three points thanks to Diogo Jota’s first-half strike as the Portugal forward capitalised on some poor defending to turn in Cody Gakpo’s cross.
But as they closed in on the three points Alisson appeared to suffer a hamstring injury when making a clearance and was replaced by Vitezslav Jaros for the final 10 minutes, with the Czech goalkeeper making his debut.
Liverpool have lost just once in the Premier League so far but Crystal Palace are winless, with this their fourth defeat in seven games.
They had an early Eddie Nketiah strike disallowed for offside, while Ismaila Sarr forced a good save out of Alisson just before the break.
Liverpool’s inability to find a second meant that Palace – having been a distant second best for large periods – were always in with a chance of taking something.
Alisson was twice called upon in the second half to make saves, first keeping out Nketiah’s shot after the visitors had been caught in possession, and then denying Eberechi Eze.
While the late change in goal was a blow for Liverpool, Palace were unable to truly test Jaros before the final whistle, with Eze firing straight at the goalkeeper after a good break.
The win meant Liverpool moved four points clear at the top of the table before the 15:00 BST games got under way. Palace, meanwhile, remain in the bottom three with three points from seven games.
The post-Jurgen Klopp era could not be going much better for Liverpool and this win continued Arne Slot’s stunning start as manager.
His Reds side have won all four away games in the league so far this season – only the third time they have done that in their history.
Slot has also become just the fourth manager in Premier League history to win each of his first four away games in the competition, after Felipe Scolari (first eight), John Gregory (five) and Bobby Gould (four).
This win came just three days after Liverpool had been in Champions League action, and while Slot played down the turnaround for a 12:30 BST kick-off, tiredness clearly showed in a leggy second-half display.
As they did in the 2-0 win against Bologna in midweek, they rode their luck at times as Palace threatened an equaliser after a break, but they did enough to keep their winning run going.
The main concern will be the injury to Alisson, who look frustrated after suffering the injury when he cleared the ball, although he was able to walk off unaided.
At Etihad Stadim, Mateo Kovacic scored twice as Manchester City overcame a dogged Fulham to pick up a first Premier League win in three games.
City dominated the early stages before Raul Jimenez’s outstanding backheel cross enabled Andreas Pereira to score from close range.
Adama Traore missed two big chances either side of that – being denied by Ederson in a one-on-one and then skying a shot from inside the box.
And City midfielder Kovacic made him pay.
His first was a first-time effort from a half-cleared corner that went in via a deflection.
And his second, shortly into the second half, was a much cleaner strike from the edge of the area.
There was almost a twist, as Traore beat Kyle Walker for pace before again shooting at Ederson.
In fact, City conceded several more chances before Jeremy Doku drifted in from the left and crashed a fantastic strike into the far top corner.
At that stage you thought surely City were home and dry but they left substitute Rodrigo Muniz free in the box to give Fulham renewed hope late on.
But Marco Silva’s side could not muster an equaliser.
City are now unbeaten in 50 home games in all competitions, the fourth English top-flight side to ever manage that.
City fans unveiled a banner before kick-off in boss Pep Guardiola’s native Catalan saying they want him to stay. His contract expires at the end of his season and he has been non-committal on his future.
It is an undeniable fact that Manchester City are a better team with defensive midfielder Rodri starting.
But since coming off, with a season-ending injury, at 1-0 up against Arsenal they drew that game and then were held by Newcastle in their next Premier League match.
Failure to win here would have meant three Premier League games without a win for the first time in 2024.
And for a while it was looking a real possibility.
If Traore had taken his chances it might have been 2-0 to Fulham, or even 3-0.
Kovacic and Ilkay Gundogan have been City’s double pivot since the injury to Rodri, effectively two men replacing one.
And while neither can compare to Rodri defensively, Kovacic ended up being the game’s key player.
His first goal gave City a way back into the game – especially when it looked as if Fulham could score more – and his second to give them the lead came while fans were still making their way back from half-time refreshments.
Nearly everyone in the ground thought the game was won when substitute Doku struck a fantastic third from the edge of the box.
Kovacic’s goals are nice but they lack that stable base without Rodri, and were left hanging on in injury time after Muniz struck.
This game has equalled the longest unbeaten run in their league history – 30 matches, level with their run from April 2017 to January 2018.
City boss Guardiola was full of praise for opposite number Marco Silva and the outstanding job he has done at Fulham before the game.
But Fulham traditionally struggle in this fixture. In fact they had lost their last 16 – now 17 – meetings with City, the longest losing run one English league side has ever had against another.
However the Cottagers caused City more problems than some of the world’s best teams manage at Etihad Stadium.
Their opening goal was outstanding, with Jimenez’s sensational backheel enabling former Manchester United player Pereira to score.
Traore’s lack of end product probably cost him a career at the very top level with Barcelona – and this would have been a different game had he managed to take his chances.
Two one-on-ones ended up going straight to Ederson, and the other big chance was one he spooned over the bar from about 10 yards.
Fulham remain sixth in the table following only their second defeat of the season – and Silva will have seen plenty of reasons to be confident here.
Source: BBC football
