Fulham are overwhelmed

Man City... 4 Fulham... 1: With Manchester City crushing Fulham last night and Robbie Fowler joining for £1 million less than he was supposed to last week, it has been a profitable 24 hours for the club, both on and off the pitch.

The striker chose not to watch his new colleagues, but he should be encouraged by the reports of how they fought back from conceding an early goal and, specifically, the part that his new strike partner Nicolas Anelka played in Fulham's downfall.

Steed Malbranque's crisp 20-yard shot, which beat Carlo Nash, came inside the first two minutes, before most of the players had muddied their knees.

Gradually, however, Fowler's new club shook their heads clear, stopped squandering possession with regularity and started to pass the ball with greater fluency.

Even then, there was an element of surprise about the equaliser. Ali Benarbia's clever pass to send Anelka scampering clear was the first time Martin Djetou and Alain Goma had been stretched in Fulham's defence and they paid a considerable price, the striker's finish combining power and precision to beat Maik Taylor.

City needed only two minutes of the second half to take the lead.

This time Anelka instigated the move, dinking an exquisite pass to Djamel Belmadi on the left.

The Algerian midfielder had endured a torrid night until that point, but had the clarity of mind to look up before crossing, picking out his compatriot Benarbia to score with a bobbling, rather fluky shot off his shin.

Just after the hour the inevitable occurred. Anelka burst down the right and crossed for Benarbia, whose header was parried by Taylor but fell to Marc-Vivien Foe, who turned in the third.

Then, within 30 seconds of replacing Benarbia, Shaun Wright-Phillips scored the fourth with his first touch, lobbing Taylor after anticipating Richard Dunne's knockdown.

MAN CITY: Nash, Sommeil, Howey, Distin, Dunne, Benarbia (Wright-Phillips 70), Foe, Horlock, Jensen, Belmadi, Anelka (Goater 86). Subs Not Used: Weaver, Jihai, Huckerby. Booked: Foe, Sommeil, Jensen. Goals: Anelka 21, Benarbia 47, Foe 61, Wright-Phillips 70.

FULHAM: Taylor, Finnan, Djetou, Goma, Brevett, Goldbaek, Davis, Legwinski, Malbranque, Marlet, Boa Morte. Subs Not Used: Herrera, Melville, Inamoto, Sava, Harley. Booked: Boa Morte. Goals: Malbranque 2.

Referee: S Bennett (Kent).