Manchester City are safely through in the Carling Cup, but needed extra-time to see off Fulham on Wednesday.
Toure the saviour for Blues in cup tussle with Cottagers
Manchester City are safely through in the Carling Cup, but needed extra-time to see off Fulham on Wednesday. Club captian Kolo Toure proved to be the hero at Eastlands as he grabbed what proved to be the winner in a 2-1 success. Zoltan Gera had spectacularly fired the Cottagers in front during the first half, but Gareth Barry restored parity shortly after the interval to take the tie past 90 minutes. City had the majority of possession in regulation time and surged forward in the eighth minute. Craig Bellamy, who scored twice against Manchester United in the epic 4-3derby defeat at Old Trafford on Sunday, skipped to the byline only to see his cross blocked. A minute later Bellamy again made space on the left but from his delivery Barry's header was cleanly taken by goalkeeper David Stockdale. Fulham found themselves on the back foot in the 20th minute when Stephen Ireland clipped the ball forward but Stockdale got there ahead of Carlos Tevez to mop up. City kept up the pressure and Bellamy released Tevez, only for the Argentina striker to drill his shot wide of the post. However they were left stunned in the 34th minute when Fulham took the lead with a goal out of nothing. Gera picked up a loose ball 30 yards out and smashed a marvellous half-volley beyond Shay Given. City responded in the 41st minute and Stockdale did well to punch away Bellamy's inswinging free-kick from the edge of the area.Bright
Then Chris Smalling did well to block a shot from Tevez from close range before Shaun Wright-Phillips saw his effort saved by Stockdale. City started the second half brightly and Tevez got on the end of a cross from Nigel de Jong after 46 minutes, only to head wide. Barry then saw his shot blocked before Stockdale used his fists to clear Bellamy's corner. City drew level in the 52nd minute when the Fulham goalkeeper lost his bearings as Bellamy delivered another corner and Barry scored with a header at the back post. This was a difficult spell for Hodgson's side and Barry tested Stockdale with a header following a cross from Pablo Zabaleta three minutes later. City kept the momentum going and Barry saw his shot deflected wide in the 73rd minute after Bellamy had set up the opening. Fulham launched a swift counter-attack five minutes later and Given reacted instinctively to push away a fine effort from Seol Ki-hyeon. Barry then got into a good position on the edge of the area with a minute to go but his effort went wide and the match went into extra-time. City carved out a good chance in the 98th minute when Joleon Lescott launched the ball long and Bellamy was on it in a flash only to send his effort over the crossbar. A clever back-heel from Bellamy released substitute Vladimir Weiss a minute later but his header cleared the crossbar, as did Tevez's shortly afterwards. Bjorn Helge Riise almost put Fulham ahead in the 109th minute, his angled drive going narrowly past the post, but two minutes later Toure scored the winner when he got on the end of a corner from Martin Petrov to head the ball powerfully into the net.| Manchester City | Team Statistics | Fulham |
| 2 | Goals | 1 |
| 0 | 1st Half Goals | 1 |
| 7 | Shots on Target | 2 |
| 13 | Shots off Target | 3 |
| 5 | Blocked Shots | 0 |
| 13 | Corners | 6 |
| 9 | Fouls | 17 |
| 4 | Offsides | 2 |
| 0 | Yellow Cards | 2 |
| 0 | Red Cards | 0 |
| 47.8 | Possession | 52.2 |