Fulham left to rue buildup errors as Manchester City take advantage

With Fulham edging closer to the drop, interim head coach Scott Parker is keen to impress in the hopes of earning a more permanent position ahead of next season. Saturdays fixture against Manchester City represented arguably his toughest challenge yet, with Pep Guardiola looking to lead his side back to top spot in the Premier League.

Despite some brave attempts to build attacks, Fulham were beaten by two goals to nil. This analysis will attempt to dissect Citys performance, as well as highlighting the flaws in the home teams efforts.

Lineups

Eager to prevent central progressions during their defensive phases, Parker set his side up in a 5-4-1 formation. However, centre-forward Ryan Babel often dropped off the front in an attempt to stifle Gundogans game. In these instances, Andre-Frank Zambo Anguisse played between the lines in a shape more closely resembling a 5-1-4.

Guardiola went with his typical shape of 4-3-3, although he did alter Citys formation at different stages during the match. In order to better protect Ilkay Gundogan, Oleksandr Zinchenko eventually moved infield to form a double pivot in front of Kyle Walker, Nicolas Otamendi, and Aymeric Laporte. However, as we will see, the away sides positional play was dynamic throughout.

Fulham punished during build-up phase

With a return to the championship all but sealed, it seems Fulham are preparing for next season already. Despite the stellar nature of their opponents on Saturday, the Lillywhites elected for a patient approach to build-up, preferring to play short from goal kicks whenever possible.

Although it occasionally paid off, Fulhams short passing game proved to be their undoing. Just five minutes in, right-sided centre-back Timothy Fosu-Mensah conceded possession in the first third, with his sloppy pass intercepted by the proactive defending of Kevin De Bruyne.

Illustrated in the sequence below, the