Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka has admitted that Manchester City deserved to win against Fulham despite being “a little bit lucky”.
Erling Haaland’s 95th-minute penalty saw City beat Fulham 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium, as Pep Guardiola’s side played for more than an hour with only 10 men. Joao Cancelo was shown a straight red card by referee Darren England just before the half-hour mark after he was deemed to have illegally muscled Fulham’s Harry Wilson off the ball inside the penalty area.
Former Manchester United player Andreas Pereira proceeded to send Ederson the wrong way from the spot. Julian Alvarez had given his side the lead with a superb strike in the 16th minute, but Fulham were back on level terms less than 15 minutes later.
Just as the game appeared to be slipping away from City, Kevin De Bruyne was tripped in the area as he earnt his side a last-minute penalty. Haaland composed himself before stepping up and scoring his 18th Premier League goal of the season.
The result saw City move back to the top of the Premier League on Saturday night, but Arsenal had reclaimed top spot less than 24 hours later following their 1-0 win against Chelsea.
Speaking to BT Sport after the match, Xhaka was asked about the added pressure of City’s last-minute winner the day before Arsenal’s game. The in-form midfielder gave an honest assessment of City’s last-minute win and conceded that the Blues were worthy winners despite leaving it so late.
Xhaka said: “A little bit lucky for them, but if you play more than 60 minutes with one [player] less, I think you deserve in the end to win.”