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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
George Smith

'Who needs Haaland?' - Man City fans go crazy as Liam Delap impresses in FA Cup win vs Fulham

Manchester City cruised into the fifth-round of the FA Cup with a comfortable 4-1 win over Championship table-toppers Fulham at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Goals from Riyad Mahrez (two), Ilkay Gundogan and John Stones kept City's hopes of securing a famous treble this season alive, despite being forced to come from behind following Fabio Carvalho's early opener for the visitors.

Manager Pep Guardiola named a strong starting line-up, featuring the likes of Kyle Walker, Joao Cancelo and Kevin De Bruyne, meaning City found themselves in a strong enough position to introduce youngsters James McAtee and Liam Delap with just under 15 minutes of the contest remaining.

Delap's cameo appearance marked his first outing in the first-team this season following a long spell on the sidelines through injury.

The 18-year-old wasted little time in trying to make an impact upon his return, scoring what he thought was City's fifth of the contest, only for him to be denied by the offside flag after burying a header.

Despite being denied his second senior goal, City's supporters were hugely impressed by Delap's second half introduction, which saw him come on in place of Jack Grealish.

City, despite signing Julian Alvarez from River Plate on Monday ahead of next season, have lacked an out-and-out goalscorer at the top end of the pitch this season and some supporters believe Delap could be just the ticket, despite his inexperience.

Below, MEN Sport has taken a close look at what some City supporters have had to say on social media.

As you can see by the messages displayed in the tweets above, City's supporters were hugely impressed by Delap's showing against the Cottagers, even if it was only short.

The striker has bags and bags of potential and his future will be one to keep a very close eye over the next few years.

Delap, who scored his one and only goal for City to date against Bournemouth back in September 2020, is now being considered by one supporter as a possible alternative to transfer target and Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland.

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