Beauty of Manchester City shines through as clock ticks down to treble | Barney Ronay

Fulham did expose one weakness but Pep Guardiola’s relentless side shrugged it off to go top of the Premier League

Tick. Tick. Tick. At the end of this breezy, fun, quietly feisty 2-1 defeat of Fulham, there was even a sense of super-smart design in Pep Guardiola’s onfield displays of affection.

There was a double-hug for John Stones: both hands around the torso plus a final flurry of buttock pats for the key defensive peg on the current eight-match winning league run. Guardiola hugged Jack Grealish, just because he loves hugging Jack Grealish.