Manchester City overcame Fulham at home despite a very fragmented effort courtesy to a spotlight-stealing showing from Mateo Kovacic.

For much of the match, Pep Guardiola’s team was far from optimal. The visitors took the lead and were maybe unlucky not to have scored more than two goals after Ederson made many excellent saves to deny them.

Replacing The reigning Premier League champions secured all three points thanks to Jeremy Doku’s addition to Mateo Kovacic’s brace, but Pep Guardiola will surely have some areas to improve during the international break.

Wolves, who have shown to be something of a bogey team in recent years, will host Manchester City later this month, ending the players’ two-week break from club fixtures and broader first-team responsibilities.

Here are the Five Things We Learned from Manchester City’s 3-2 victory over Fulham at the Etihad Stadium, their return to winning ways in the top league, prior to that and their two-week vacation from club play!

Mateo Kovacic improves his game with goals.

Throughout his stellar career, Mateo Kovacic has been many things, but a consistent goal scorer isn’t one of them. The Croatian is undoubtedly talented in so many other areas, but since being professional, he has only scored less than 40 goals as a senior—not exactly a prolific scorer.

But again, there was a time when Ilkay Gundogan was very much exactly like this. After playing for a while under Pep Guardiola, the German’s promise as a major goal supplier was finally realized.

Mateo Kovacic showed some positive indicators against Fulham that he might experience a similar metamorphosis and provide a fresh perspective to the Manchester City attacking scheme that could puzzle some opponents.

His first goal, the equalizer, demonstrated a masterclass in timing one’s arrival inside the box, while his second strike truly brought attention to the former Chelsea and Real Madrid midfielder’s poise in front of goal.

We also won’t soon forget his game-changing goal against his old team on the first day of the season. This season, goals from players other than Erling Haaland have been a major concern. However, is Mateo Kovacic an unlikely answer?

Jeremy Doku has an impact.

When it comes to goals not scored by our lucky Norwegian, Jeremy Doku is another who has a ton of potential to contribute. He will be especially important while players like Kevin de Bruyne and Rodri are down.

When it comes to the last ball, the Belgian has a tendency to blow hot and cold, just like any other young winger. But he maintained his form, positioning himself as one of the team’s greatest strikers in recent weeks after contributing goals against Watford and Slovan Bratislava.

Actually, Doku’s goal to increase Manchester City’s advantage was one of his best performances to date at the team and was evocative of another quick young winger who excelled under Pep Guardiola – Leroy Sané.

We might soon be discussing Jeremy Doku as one of the league’s top wingers if he can continue to find the net more frequently. Without a doubt, the innate talent is already present.

Defensive chaos

Pep Guardiola is, in many respects, a very defensive coach, despite all of the associations he has with offensive, possession-based football, strangling the opposition with passes, and leading the league in goals scored.

He should be proud of his career-long low goals conceded per game ratio, which has been a source of pride throughout his career (let’s overlook his first season at Manchester City). However, this season has seen moments when that stability has been lacking, never more so than against Fulham.

Pep Guardiola’s defense was frequently breached by Adama Traore, a guy who has long plagued Manchester City defenses. Traore had the opportunity to add to the goals that Andreas Pereira and Rodrigo Muniz had already scored.