The Centre Circle

At Fulham, it was always going to be difficult for the home side to reach the heights after their magnificent win against Juventus on Thursday. And so it proved with Man City taking the lead from a counter attack after a Zoltan Gera effort was cleared off the line. Craig Bellamy hit the post, with Roque Santa Cruz tucking away the rebound. One nil down and just before half time and it was to get worse for Fulham as Bellamy fed Carlos Tevez who cut inside central defender Chris Smalling before shooting Man City into a two goal lead. Into the second half and Adam Johnson nearly made it 3-0 when a swerving shot from Adam Johnson clipped the outside of the right hand post, however Fulham were to get a penalty when an unwitting Gareth Barry handled in the box. A touch unlucky for the England midfielder. Danny Murphy converted the spot kick to give Fulham hope and they could have had a second when the ball hit Vincent Kompany on the arm but this time referee Lee Probert failed to award a second penalty and Man City hung on to win 2-1 and to move two points behind Spurs. It is starting to look more like a straight fight between these two for the coveted 4th place.