PHOTO GALLERY: Haaland scored a hat-trick to help Man City sink Fulham after controversial Nathan Ake goal

Manchester City don’t really need any help at present. Nonetheless, no one is better at exploiting the breaks that come their way.

Even in the best of circumstances, facing the treble winners at The Etihad presents hurdles. And things are not going well for Fulham right now.

Joao Palhinha, who had spent Friday night in Munich posing in Bayern gear before his dream move fell through, was already absent, and he was their best player. He was obviously unavailable, and it will now take a master motivator to get his mind in shape for the arduous months leading up to January.

As a result, the task was already daunting before Fulham’s crucial captain Tom Cairney limped off after 16 minutes.

Then they conceded after 31 minutes, despite having neutered City and new signing Jeremy Doku. Mateo Kovacic’s through ball, Erling Haaland’s run and assist – though it looked suspiciously like a shot gone wrong – for Julian Alvarez was enough for them to establish their customary foothold in the game.

Erling Haaland starred for Manchester City with his first hat-trick of the season to take his tally to six already in the league

Julian Alvarez had scored in his third successive home game to open the occasion with 31 minutes on the clock at the Etihad

Haaland scored a second half hat-trick in the week that saw him crowned UEFA’s Player of the Season for his exploits last term

Yet even then Fulham refused to fold, equalising within a minute. Raul Jimenez touched Andreas Pereira’s corner onto Bobby De Cordova-Reid, whose shot was saved by Ederson but spun into the waiting path of Tim Ream at the far post, who, three yards out, duly touched it in for 1-1.

But as flies to wanton boys are mid table teams to Manchester City: they kill them for their sport. And if the refereeing gods are also like minded, really there is no hope.

That is how Fulham and Marco Silva will feel about the game’s pivotal moment. After surviving the first half largely intact and displaying a disciplined tactical display that caused City some minor discomfort, they came up against the harshest punishment in the book.

First-half injury time was in its fifth and final minute when Phil Foden swung in a corner, which Nathan Ake met forcefully and placed in the bottom corner to make it 2-1. However, Manuel Akanji was positioned in front of goalkeeper Bernd Leno two yards offside.

He feinted – to get out of the way, perhaps? – but also stuck out a leg – just after the ball had passed him, possibly? – but he was a giant clunking presence directly in the sight line of the ‘keeper.

Nathan Ake was completely unmarked in the Fulham area

Fulham players remonstrated with referee Michael Oliver

It’s hard for those of a certain generation not to recall Bill Shankly’s take. ‘If a player isn’t interfering with play, what the bloody hell is he doing on the pitch?’ It seems manifestly unfair that Leno had to wait to see whether Akanji, clearly offside, makes his move before committing. In general, the rules should favour attacking sides. Yet this defied common sense.

Certainly the Fulham players and Silva felt so. Referee Michael Oliver consulted with his assistant but awarded the goal and wasn’t invited to view the incident as VAR Tony Harrington didn’t see an obvious error.

But most of the rest of the Etihad did when the helpful video screen operator replayed the goal, and Fulham went beserk, beseeching Oliver to take a view, which, of course, by now he couldn’t.

The Norwegian goal machine atoned for his error from 12 yards last time out against Sheffield United by sending Bernd Leno the wrong way

Marco Silva was left seething after Nathan Ake’s goal put City ahead before half-time – with a lengthy VAR check going City’s way

Despite swiftly equalising through defender Tim Ream, it was a chastening day at the office for the west London outfit

Adama Traore came off the bench for a late cameo, replacing Harry Wilson in attack for the final 10 minutes of the encounter

With City in a commanding position, Juanma Lillo was able to hand several youngsters some minutes, including Oscar Bobb

At one point it looked as though the game wouldn’t resume, so animated were Fulham. When it did, Fulham assistant Luis Boa Morte rolled a second ball on the pitch twice, to delay it further, presumably hoping some kind of reprieve could be found.

Those are the breaks that make your life near impossible if you’re Fulham. After which, the second half was entirely predictable. On 58 minutes, Rodri played a through ball which Alvarez touched on and which deflected off Ream into Erling’s Haaland path and the conclusion was inevitable, Leno stretching vainly to keep the strike out.

The fourth will have only added to Fulham’s sense of grievance, coming by way of a Haaland penalty. Alvarez was doing his sprinting and darting thing that so confuses defenders and Issa Diop, the wrong side of him, panicked and pushed. The penalty was awarded, taken and scored by Haaland, who also doesn’t need extra help.

Poor Fulham. Just when it looked like they might get way with something respectable, Sergio Gomez used the final seconds of injury time to dash down the left, turn his defender inside out, before pulling back for Haaland to score his seventh City hat-trick just over a year after he arrived. 5-1 the records will say but that only tells a fraction of the story.