Man City now know who their biggest Premier League rival is - and it's not Man Utd

Manchester City produced their most convincing performance of the season so far to beat Fulham in the Premier League

Sane rolls back the summer

After a long, tortuous 102 days since his World Cup shock, Leroy Sane took just 98 seconds to make all feel well again.

Manchester City's oldest two supporters - Vera Cohen, 102, and sister Olga, 98, - had barely taken their seats when the Germans first touch of the football had everyone on their feet.

From the moment Marcus Bettinelli's pass made things awkward for Jean Michael Seri, Sane was alive. As Fernandinhopounced on the dreadful touch, he knew it was his moment. There was the relentless acceleration that typifies his game but, unlike that frenzied cameo at Wolves, there was also the patience to wait.

Fernandinho's ball dropped perfectly onto Sane's right foot to melt away a frustrating summer.

As an appreciative crowd serenaded him, the 22-year-old rolled through a highlights reel of what made him the PFA Young Player of the Year last season; there were the crisp one-twos with David Silva, the lung-busting runs beyond his full-back and even dashes back to make amends on the rare occasions the team lost the ball.

Guardiola could not have asked for anything more.

It was another afternoon to savour at the Etihad as a spellbinding attack crafted by the two Silvas toyed with a beleaguered Fulham side that vainly attempted to take the game to the champions, bringing to mind their form at this stage of last season when they cruised through several gears.

There is more to come - Sane needs to build on this game and there are still kinks in both boxes that can be ironed out - but this was the most convincing performance of the season to date.

Liverpool set the standard

Not only did City hit their stride at this point of last season but early table-toppers United fell out of theirs.

Two dropped points against Everton were rendered irrelevant thanks to an 18-match winning run that none of their rivals could come close to matching.

This time, the Blues await their opportunity after Liverpool put in an excellent performance to defeat Tottenham at Wembley. It is still very early days but Jurgen Klopp's men look the team to finish above if City are to defend their title.

All Guardiola's men can do is keep doing their job, and they put in a vintage performance against Fulham. As the manager said in his programme notes: "We expected our competitors to raise their level and so it has proved. That is good and the way it should be - now it is up to us to meet that challenge."

Silva still gold

If the last week has looked back on Silva's glorious history at the club, his performance and 50th goal on Saturday was a reminder that he has more to write.

Guardiola wants more goals from the Spaniard and after a record haul last year, he has started promisingly again.