City 2 - 3 Fulham, player ratings

Hart Made a very good save from a Healy header in the first half. Generally solid until it all went wrong. Ought to be applauded for the penalty save, but could have prevented any of Fulham's three goals. 6

Elano His passing was a joy to watch. The time and space he was afforded meant that he could pick out Petrov and Benjani from anywhere, and was always successful. Great ball to Vassell for our second goal. Defended well, won some important headers. 8 (Man of the Match)

Corluka Saw the best and worst of him yesterday. Seventy minutes of immaculate defending; Healy and McBride got nothing out of him, and were both substituted. But a concentration slip let Kamara through to make it 2-1. He made a similar mistake against this lot at Craven Cottage to turn three points into one. 7

Ball Defended well, and played the ball well when he needed to. Had to help out Sun too much, but that's not his fault. As a captain, seemed rather quiet and failed to prevent our collapse. 7

Sun Not Premier League quality. Never looked fully comfortable with Simon Davies, gave the ball away too much. And to give away that needless penalty was stupid. 4

Gelson Not his best performance. Dominated by Jimmy Bullard in the middle (although this is also to some extent on Johnson too). Gave the ball away in the build up to the equaliser. Showed good fitness in the last ten minutes, but can't always exploit the positions he gets in. 5

Johnson Getting slowly closer to his Autumn form. Didn't have to do too much defensively, going forward he was tidy with a few clever passes. 6

Vassell Almost as well as he can play. Worked hard, put in a good cross for Benjani's goal. Failed to really test Fulham in the second half when there was lots of space to exploit. 6

Ireland For the first half he was as good as he was against Portsmouth: impressive vision and passing, good movement, kept the ball well. His goal was delightful: who else do we have who could have done that? Must have picked up a slight knock in the second half (came off after 55 minutes). Geovanni was good, but we did miss Stevie. 7

Petrov Impressive. Linked up very well with both Ireland and Benjani: got round the back repeatedly; incredible that he came away with no goals and one assist. Will be gutted to have missed those two golden chances in the last few minutes. Did a William Gallas sit out after the final whistle. 8

Benjani Getting better and better - did the lone front man thing perfectly. Holding up the ball, dragging the defenders out, linking with Petrov, Ireland and Vassell. Should have scored when clean through on 88 minutes though. 8

SUBS

Geovanni (for Ireland, 55). Best performance in months. Played in central midfield, and was much fitter and stronger than he has been before. Almost scored a goal the original Gio would have been proud of, and it's not his fault that Petrov and Benjani didn't convert the chances that he created. 7

Caicedo (for Vassell, 79). Worked hard and got into good positions. Missed one good chance. Still lots of work to be done here. 6