Five things we learned as Bernardo Silva and Sergio Aguero led Manchester City in stroll past Fulham

Manchester City were far too good for Manchester City, but it wasn't all good news for Pep Guardiola

1) Silva pushes his case for end-of-season recognition

When it comes to deciding the Premier League’s end-of-season awards, Liverpool have a pretty obvious candidate in man-mountain Virgil van Dijk, but there is not such a clear-cut selection from the other standout team, Manchester City. Sergio Aguero has another bulging bag of goals and Raheem Sterling has been sensational, yet perhaps the outside bet to be shortlisted is the popular Portuguese, Bernardo Silva.

At the start of the season Pep Guardiola revealed his opening team selection would be “Bernardo Silva and 10 others”, such was his impressive pre-season campaign, and that form has carried right through to this point. So often he has been creator-in-chief but at Craven Cottage it was his goalscoring which proved decisive. This game was all about how early City could break Fulham’s resistance, and Silva did that within five minutes, cutting in on that menacing left foot, biding his time, waiting for just enough of a gap to slip his shot through Maxime Le Marchand’s plodding legs and into the corner.

The unassuming winger may not win any gongs this season but at the very least he deserves to be mentioned among the award nominees, Most revealing of all might be City’s in-house awards; you sense no-one appreciates Silva’s output like his team-mates.

2) Parker has a building job on his hands

Caretaker manager Scott Parker has made clear his desire to take on Fulham in a full-time role, even if – and when – they get relegated. But this is no patch-up job: Parker has a full rebuild on his hands should he stay at Craven Cottage and take them down to the Championship.

Expensive recruits like Jean Michael Seri and Aleksandar Mitrovic are likely to leave the club, while the defence which Slavisa Jokanovic brought up through the play-offs has long since been decimated and needs reinforcing. Having played Liverpool and Manchester City in back-to-back games, the only saving grace for Parker is that Fulham are unlikely to meet an attacking unit this punishing for another year at least.

3) BREAKING: Aguero, finisher supreme

OK, this is not exactly a new learning as such, but it is worth reminding ourselves every now and again of just how brilliant a finisher Sergio Aguero really is. His touch and poise in the box is exceptional, with the ability to shift his weight so quickly he turns defenders to stone when they get within tackling range.

After he shrugged off his marker here his finish past Sergio Rico was perfectly placed, whistling past the goalkeeper’s head and into the top corner from a tight angle. Aguero’s relentless goalscoring is loved by City fans and recognised by everyone else, but his exceptional talents might never be fully appreciated until the day he departs the Etihad.

4) Swings and roundabouts for Guardiola

The only blight on the copybook for Pep Guardiola, besides a slow second half which might have frustrated the Spaniard’s pursuit of perfection, was the injury sustained by Aguero. The striker stopped moving on around 55 minutes, gave a squint of discomfort to the bench, and a few moments later he was wrapped up on the sidelines with a pack of ice.

It looked like a minor muscle strain and the way he walked off the pitch unassisted suggested he is unlikely to be out for long, but it is not the first time Aguero has picked up an injury around the international break, and Guardiola will rightly be concerned ahead of a packed and potentially decisive April calendar.

Sergio Aguero was forced off with injury in the second half (EPA)

On the other hand, the manager will have been pleased with the chance to give Fernandinho his first minutes on the pitch for several weeks, coming on late to reacquaint himself with Premier League football. While Aguero can at least be replaced by the talented Brazilian Gabriel Jesus, Fernandinho does not have an obvious understudy. He wasn’t missed at Craven Cottage, but he will be essential in the clutch moments ahead if City are to go on and make history.

5) City move ahead in more ways than one

It may only be for 24 hours, but Manchester City moved back into the hot-seat in their game of musical chairs with Liverpool, who play on Sunday. Yet this felt about more than just their positions in the table: City have won every game since they were shocked by Newcastle at St James’s Park in January, now extending that run to 11 successive league wins, and that relentless streak has increased the pressure on Liverpool to match them stride for stride.

City also added to their goal difference here. Not so long ago the two front-runners were fairly well matched in those numbers, but City now have an advantage of eight – and its one that might yet prove invaluable.