Manchester City 2 Fulham 0: match report The outcome of this game was never in doubt, however, after Silva opened the scoring inside the opening two minutes. Fulham, with just two wins in 14 games prior to their visit to the Etihad, were caught cold when Silva reacted quickest to score after goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer had palmed away Edin Dzeko's 20-yard strike. Having scored so early in the game, the opportunity opened up for City to heap further pressure on United by boosting their goal difference with an emphatic victory. But Silva's goal took the sting out of the game and the first-half became a dismal encounter between two teams displaying little ambition or invention. Fulham midfielder Steve Sidwell clipped the outside of the post with a 31st minute header from Damien Duff's cross before Dzeko shot wide in stoppage time from Carlos Tevez's pass. That was the sum total of the first-half action, but the second-half was not much better. Fulham simply retreated back into their defensive third and City failed to test them enough until Silva scored his second on 69 minutes. The former Valencia playmaker was freed in the penalty area by Tevez's flick and his lofted the ball into the far corner with a left-foot effort from six yards. It was game over, but Silva then spurned the chance to score his first hat-trick in English football when he shot wide from a similar position moments later. Once again freed by Tevez, Silva sent his shot wide of the far post, but the game was already won. But as last season proved, every goal counts in a tight title race and who knows whether the miss will be costly in the long-term?