Erling Haaland made clear that Manchester City must look inward after a chaotic midweek victory that reduced the gap to Arsenal to two points. The forward, who described his own performance as “not good enough,” was unimpressed by a finish made nervy when Samu Chukwueze’s second running volley in the space of four minutes made it 5–4 with a quarter of an hour remaining.

The result took City to within two points of Arsenal at the Premier League summit before the leaders host Brentford on Wednesday. Upon receiving the Player of the Match award, Haaland was asked about the wider significance for the title race. “Of course, it’s important,” he told Sky Sports . “Arsenal came here and they won as well. So, we know how difficult it is to come here and Fulham is a great team.

“But again, we shouldn’t think too much about Arsenal,” Haaland warned. “We should focus on ourselves, try to improve and avoid things like this happen today, because it’s not good enough and we all know this and we need to improve as a team. That’s what our focus should be.”

Pep Guardiola struck a more upbeat tone after the near collapse. “It only happens in this league,” he giddily told Match of the Day. “We played a fantastic game… Listen, there was some really positive things in what we have done. To come here, to score five goals, and the way we played in that first half.

“In the end it was a question of character, resilience and defence. They did what they had to do.”

The match also provided another milestone for Haaland. After shattering Alan Shearer’s record in the race to a century, it was put to Haaland whether he could eventually surpass the former England captain’s all-time ranking of 260 Premier League goals. “I know about it,” the 25-year-old shrugged, “but I don’t think too much about it.”

If his scoring run continues at close to a goal per game, it would take a little more than four further seasons to reach that mark. City have tied him to a contract that doesn’t expire until 2034. For now, the former Borussia Dortmund frontman was chiefly concerned with the chances he missed against Fulham and with the collective improvements his manager and team demand.

Manchester City face immediate uncertainty in goal after two goalkeepers are reportedly considering moves in January. James Trafford, the club’s £31 million summer signing, and Stefan Ortega both appear to be weighing exits after sudden changes to the pecking order.

Trafford began 2025–26 as Pep Guardiola’s starter, selected ahead of Ederson, but early shaky performances, including a chastening defeat to Tottenham Hotspur, unsettled supporters. A quirk of the transfer saw City receive £4 million back from Trafford’s deal because of a sell-on fee inserted when he left Burnley in 2023.

Events moved quickly on Deadline Day when Manchester City took Gianluigi Donnarumma after Paris Saint-Germain decided to move on from the Italian. The 2025 Yashin Trophy winner was slightly cheaper than Trafford and has started every Premier League game since his arrival. Ederson left for Fenerbahçe as part of the process to create the space for Donnarumma.

The change left Trafford in a difficult position. His only subsequent appearances have been in the Carabao Cup and a 2–0 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen. The Daily Mail reports Trafford is now looking at the January window, having been told when he arrived that he would be No. 1. It had been hoped the move might help his bid to challenge Pickford for England’s starting berth going into the 2026 World Cup, but his relegation to a backup role could put that at risk.

Newcastle United remain a possible destination after the Magpies were beaten to Trafford’s signature in the summer transfer period. Eddie Howe’s side instead brought in Aaron Ramsdale on loan from Southampton, but Nick Pope retained the No. 1 role.

Stefan Ortega also reportedly intends to leave. The German made 56 appearances in the three seasons before 2025–26 and has been relegated to third choice, not even making the bench since the opening day of the Premier League campaign in August.

Compounding City’s goalkeeping concerns, Donnarumma has been booked four times in 10 Premier League appearances, three cautions for dissent and one for timewasting. He is one booking away from a one-game suspension under the current accumulation rules, with the split-season reset due after the 19th gameweek.

Lawmakers in football are examining rule changes intended to curb time-wasting linked to goalkeepers receiving treatment. The prospect of forcing an outfield player to spend time on the sidelines is one of the proposals under consideration.

Manchester City were accused of using that tactic over the weekend. Gianluigi Donnarumma received treatment in the second half of Saturday’s clash with Leeds United, giving Pep Guardiola an opening to talk to his team after they were left reeling by a strong burst of form from the visitors. Guardiola denied any skullduggery and even if Donnarumma was hamming it up, he would hardly be the first.

BBC Sport reported that the issue was discussed “at length” in October by IFAB, the International Football Association Board, and the Technical Advisory Panels. One proposal would require an outfield player to spend 30 seconds on the sidelines if that team’s goalkeeper requires treatment. That sidelined player would be nominated by their manager, a suggestion the report said could create complications. An alternative measure under consideration was to ban players from going across to the touchline during these stoppages.

IFAB will likely bring this issue and other proposed rule changes up for further debate at their annual business meeting on Jan. 20, 2026.

Leeds boss Daniel Farke brought the incident into focus after seeing his side’s momentum disrupted. “Everyone knows why he went down, right? It’s not like the elephant in the room,” the German boss seethed. “It’s more like you can speak about it. You can ask me what I think about why he went down. It was obvious.”

Farke acknowledged the act did not currently breach the laws of the game while urging action. “It’s within the rules. It’s smart. If I like it, if it’s in the sense of fair play, if it should be like this, I keep it to myself,” he fumed. “I leave it with the authorities to find solutions for it. It’s within the rules. I asked the fourth official at this point, ‘Do you want to do something?’ He said, ‘No, our hands are tied. We can’t do anything.’”

He added: “We know this happens, but if we don’t educate our players in football, what to do in terms of fair play, sportsmanship and you just try to bend the rules to your advantage, you can even do a fake injury in order to do an additional team talk, it’s nothing I personally like. If it’s within the rules, I can’t complain about it. We should think about how we can deal with it, and also how we educate it.”