Roque Santa Cruz and Carlos Tevez earned Manchester City a 2-1 win
over Fulham at Craven Cottage to keep their Champions League hopes
on track.
The hosts still had Thursday's famous victory against
Juventus fresh in the mind when they found themselves behind to
Santa Cruz's opener, with Tevez then extending the lead before the
break in the Premier League clash on Sunday.
Fulham are comfortable in mid-table and boss Roy Hodgson
illustrated his is Europa League and FA Cup priorities by taking
off key players - but Danny Murphy pulled a goal back from the
penalty spot and they could have snatched a point.
With Liverpool defeated at Old Trafford, City now move above
Rafael Benitez's side and know their destiny is in their own hands
- if they win the rest of their games they will be in the top four.
Their victory came despite Joleon Lescott suffering a
hamstring injury in the warm-up and Javier Garrido getting drafted
in but Mancini's makeshift defence was protected well by Gareth
Barry and Patrick Vieira, with the Frenchman making his first start
since returning from a three-match ban for violent conduct.
Fulham fans were still buzzing from their victory over Juve
and almost had more to sing about after coming close to scoring
just before City's opener in the seventh minute.
Damien Duff lofted a cross to the far post where Bobby Zamora
headed back and Zoltan Gera touched over Shay Given, only for Kolo
Toure to acrobatically clear off the line.
The visitors retained the ball and sprung a counter-attack,
with Tevez feeding the ball to Craig Bellamy on the right flank.
The Welshman's tame shot flicked the heels of Aaron Hughes, struck
the post and bounced over Mark Schwarzer, allowing Santa Cruz to
poke home as Dickson Etuhu closed in.
It was his fourth goal of an injury-hit season and his first
under Mancini, who was rewarded for fielding an attacking line-up
against a team that had only lost once at home since September.
Their formation often looked like 4-2-4 when they had the ball.
Tevez had tested Schwarzer twice in the first half, the first
with a powerful drive that looked set for the bottom corner and
then after Paul Konchesky had carelessly given the ball away in a
dangerous area.
He then doubled the lead nine minutes before the break,
finishing off a flowing move that started from Pablo Zabaleta at
right-back. Tevez nut-megged Murphy then found Bellamy, whose
floated return pass from the left flank found his team-mate one on
one against centre-back Chris Smalling.
It was a case of Manchester United past versus future, with
the Argentina forward cutting inside Old Trafford-bound Smalling
before finishing crisply past Schwarzer.
Hodgson clearly had one eye on Wednesday's FA Cup
quarter-final replay against Tottenham as he took off Zamora and
Gera early in the second half, with Clint Dempsey and Stefano Okaka
coming on to try to get the hosts back in the game.
City, however, looked likely to add to their lead. Adam
Johnson laid on a chance for Santa Cruz that Schwarzer parried,
then Johnson cut inside from the right wing and fired a shot that
struck the post.
Bellamy was also found by Johnson unmarked in the penalty
area and had time to chest the ball under control - but his finish
went wide of Schwarzer's upright.
The game appeared to be drifting towards a routine City
victory until Lee Probert, with the help from his assistant,
awarded a penalty for Barry handling Chris Baird's cross from the
right.
Murphy sent Given the wrong way with the penalty to set up a
tense finale, with Okaka missing a straightforward chance to
equalise and Probert turning down another spot-kick appeal when
Vincent Kompany appeared to handle.
