Yes, for sure. That's a very nice idea.

Re Aubameyang. I heard via the grapevine that he was let go by the club because of some alleged dodgy betting his brother was up to. I don't know if it's true but the same person named Partey as being investigated on rape charges before that was in the public domain so I'm leaning towards likely on the former. Very disappointing.

Undue sibling influence a la Anelka.

Sad news on the passing of Bernard. May he rest in peace.

I was always impressed by his knowledge of and love for our club.

Yup, not thinking nice of this guy nowadays. Didn't like the way he sneaked his move to Barca.

Fulham level! I wasn't going to bother but I think I'll watch this one now. One can but hope

Cancelo sent off too. Not an easy situation for City to deal with, but you imagine Haaland being involved at some point in the second half.

DB10

Can't see him doing an Adebayor if he does score against us. Potter may have him on the bench first half even. No telling how Chels will line up.

Maybe both involved in the betting.

They still manage to dominate. They're just so good with the ball.

Yeah, a draw doesn't look likely here unfortunately

I little better in the second half, but yeah.

Thank goodness for Var!

*%^@* sake Fulham

Poor refereeing to give that.

Leno will be gutted that he didn't keep it out.

To be fair, Fulham didn't deserve anything from that game. 30% possession in the second half when playing 11 v 10 and didn't even produce a decent counter attack. De Bruyne was absolutely majestic in the last 20 minutes, Haaland will get the headlines after scoring again but De Bruyne is the heart and soul of that team.

Can't argue with that.

Sad indeed, Steven.

That’s such a soft penalty for City to win it in the last minute. When you see what we didn’t get a penalty for for Mings on Saka and then the guy manhandling Jesus in the Southampton game it makes a mockery of the officiating.

Tielemans is picking up form just in time for the January window. Pick him up on the cheap and he’d really improve our squad. I think a winger is still the clubs priority though

The commentators seemed keen to hurry past it and not disrupt the narrative of Haaland getting the winner. They went from 'reckless challenge' to 'de Bruyn won it' when the replay showed there was little or no contact. But Var surely has to look at that?

Guardiola wearing a top with a Large "P" on it....Could you imagine the grief AW would have got if his large zip-up coat had a large "W" on it?!

If I remember correctly a good Bordeaux red should do it.

Anybody up for a Nketiah/Zaha swap in January?

Just a good australian red and an early game for us in the land of real time, not fake summer time.

I’d do that deal in a heartbeat. He can be a bit of a Dick but he’s very talented and can slot in for Martinelli and Saka to give them some respite ….not sure though he fits in with MA’s desired profile….younger players etc who play to his system…

In other news I’m totally gutted …my local team the Philadelphia Union are 3:2 up with 9 minutes of injury time played in extra time ….i.e the 129 th minute ….and then that scummy f….er…. Bale scores an equalizer….LA go on to win on pens…. F me.

A few of my mates here in San Diego used to play footie for Philadelphia textile college....used to be a decent NCAA challenging team back in the day so I hear. Interesting to read about your tip back to London, I only go back now it seems when family members pass...I love London, but so many other places I want to see before my time comes! If you ever make it over to this neck of the woods let me know.

For once I agree .... that was a soft penalty ... de Bruyne should be ashamed of himself . Cheating Belgian *&^^%^%$ that touch wouldn't have felled an arthritic crane fly .

Some of our passing is abysmal Decaf ...and it is never going to improve while these Klutzes at the back take the safe option of passing back to the goalie .
I've said it before Gabriel , White , Saliba , Tomiyasu MUST have a better chance of finding a team mate than Ramsdale . They are twenty metres further up the pitch FFS .
Second half Leeds and Southampton were on their bike every time they got the ball creating panic stations .

Our slow style means we have to unpick defences and everything has to work to perfection for us to score

It's now called Philadelphia University. A friend was in athletics there. San Diego was also a fairly big adoptee of football back in the old NASL where Pele made his swan song game I believe.

I'm very nervous. Was hoping Fulham would get something out of their game but it wasn't to be. I'd take a draw right now and hope Liverpool beats Spurs.

To Bernard: a great supporter

I'd focus on the officiating, because we can't really blame players for pushing the limits and doing what they need to to win games. Our players have done it, and will do it. It's hypocritical to get heated about it when it is Rooney or de Bruyne. Also, we keep hearing how refs don't give fouls when the fouled player doesn't go down.

It's up to the officials to stamp out diving as it was up to the officials to stamp out violent tackles aim at taking a player out of the game.

Why not apply the same logic they do with handballs, with 'natural position'.

When a player goes down in a heap, the refs need to ask, is there any way that is a natural movement? Is it plausible that the contact could have resulted in the subsequent collapse, or is there a clear break between the player being touched, and the subsequent theatrical display?

Nwaneri scored 2 for the U18’s v Man U yesterday, matched finished in a 3-3 draw. If you get a chance watch the highlights because he looks a lever above everyone on the pitch and he can still play at that level for 2 years

I agree to an extent, but for it to work refs need to give penalties where players are fouled but don’t go down, but in being fouled they lost the advantage of their position. Jesus being pulled back at Southampton is a good example of this.
When was the last time anyone saw a penalty given where the fouled player didn’t end up on the floor? But compare that to free kicks given outside the box for holding, shirt pulls, but of wrestling etc

Exactly. But there is no reason for var officials not to call those. They are clear and obvious errors.

It has an appalling effect, in that players don't play to the whistle. You want players to stay on their feet if they are fouled because there is often a very good possibility that they will get another chance. Staying on your feet is very effective. But players are in two minds because they know refs are very poor at playing advantage. So they go down or just stop and wait for the ref to blow. Willian did it a couple of times yesterday--one when he had a chance to break and simply stopped because he thought he'd been fouled (and he didn't even get the foul). Even Tierney did it when his shirt was torn.

Football needs to
1) take leaf out of cricket's book and allow teams to initiate 2 reviews per match.

2) consider the way that advantage is played in rugby. If there is a foul, play on if there is the possibility of an advantage resulting. If there isn't an advantage, call it back for the offence.

Surely thats a dive from city to get that penalty?. No way would a gentle tap on the foot cause an elite athlete to collapse in a heap. MOTD didn’t even mention it aside beyond De Bruyne was clever.

The narrative is Haaland coming on and performing heroics and City storming away and winning everything.

Anything that detracts from that (that KDB 'won' the penalty, that it wasn't a brilliantly hit penalty and Leno was within a whisker of stopping it) is brushed over.