Manchester City 3-0 Fulham: 6 Things We Learned from a Snowy Affair

A snow-covered Etihad Stadium played host to an entertaining game on Saturday evening.

The cold snap in Britain hit Manchester hard and it was only thanks to the Blues' state-of-the-art facilities that the game went ahead.

In the end, Manchester City ended their hoodoo against Fulham by winning comfortably in a 3-0 scoreline.

It was anticipated as a sure-fire win for City and it was, but the game was more telling than the score suggests.

Read on to find six things I noticed during the blizzard.

It's Difficult to Play Football in the Snow

Although the game was entertaining and we saw three goals, the overall quality of the football was somewhat diminished in standard.

Let's not blame the players for that; it cannot have been easy to play in that weather. Vision was obscured along with potentially poor footing and we saw some pretty bad passes over the course of the game.

Joleon Lescott's free kick which flew straight out of play towards the end pretty much summed it up.

Ultimately, Manchester City won it by doing the simple things well and taking more care in possession than Fulham did, which is exactly how you win these types of games.

Fulham Were Set Up Correctly but Lost the Individual Battle

Martin Jol made a few tactical changes for the visit to the formidable fortress that is the Etihad Stadium.

He took out the more adventurous John Arne Riise and slotted Chris Baird in at left-back—a move that didn't work out.

In Baird's defence, there was ultimately not a lot he could do about the goals conceded on his side of the pitch. One was an unfortunate own goal, one was a penalty that should not have been given.

Dickson Etuhu, usually a calm and commanding presence in the anchor midfield position, had an off day. Most of the time, he is similar to Alex Song in the way he plays, but he was hauled off early in the second half courtesy of a few mistakes in both possession and coverage.

Lastly, you can play all you want, but if you're one-on-one with Sergio Aguero, it's unlikely to pan out in your favour.

Does Adam Johnson Have a Dark Side?

When you play at the Etihad Stadium, you have to keep it tight.

Manchester City have now won 17 games in a row on their home pitch. Many of those have been convincing 3-0 and 4-0 scores, which truly represents just how much confidence City play with at home.

Conceding a penalty in the first 10 minutes opened the flood gates, but in fairness to Fulham, that penalty should not have been given.

Adam Johnson was on his way down before the challenge came in and, to add insult to injury for Chris Baird, he stuck his foot out to simulate being clipped by the defender.

The referee fell for it and the game was pretty much over from the moment Sergio Aguero stepped up.

Pavel Pogrebnyak Can't Be Ready Sooner

The ball just wouldn't stick for Fulham up front and that's not because of the conditions.

Having sold Bobby Zamora to QPR on the final day of the transfer window, Martin Jol brought in Pavel Pogrebnyak, a towering Russian striker, as the new leader of the line.

The Manchester City game came too soon for Pogrebnyak and it seems like they can't introduce him soon enough. Clint Dempsey is a brilliant player, but he can't lead a strike force.

The Cottagers didn't build enough sustained pressure around the City penalty box to ever look like scoring and any long-distance shot was meek and tame in execution.

Clint Dempsey is effective coming in off the touch line or floating in between the two banks of four. Fulham had no choice but to stick him up top on Saturday, but it was a waste of his ability.

Concern for Gareth Barry?

Too soon to question his performances?

That wasn't the Gareth Barry I know and formerly admired. His touch was heavy, his right foot even worse than usual and his passes were uncharacteristically inaccurate.

He's 30 now and he was always a slow player in the centre of midfield. He's getting even more lethargic now and he needs to make sure his technical skills are up to scratch to stay in the side.

Yaya Toure and James Milner is the preferred combination for Roberto Mancini, so he's in and out of the side anyway, but David Pizarro signing on loan shows you that the City boss has his concerns in the middle of the park.

Even the Etihad's Not Immune to a Stop in Play

Sometimes in football, a power failure or technical fault can stop play temporarily.

While that's not likely to happen at the Etihad Stadium considering the calibre of the facilities they have, they couldn't stop the snow from obscuring the lines of the penalty area and halfway line.

The game at Stoke City took place and before the players kicked off, the lines on the pitch were re-painted blue—an astute decision by the ground staff.

In Manchester, however, the snowfall got heavier and heavier, so the ground staff had to come on halfway through and were cheered by the brave crowd as they cleared the lines.

The comical side of football!

Follow me on twitter for Manchester City, World Football and Detroit Lions articles.