This match represented the “ultimate banana skin”, according to Roy Hodgson, the Fulham manager. Presumably, the Abu Dhabi-based investment group that bought Manchester City was hoping that the club would receive more generous accolades by now. But City are three points off the relegation zone and, with 11 players missing through injury, including Robinho, they looked ordinary.

Indeed, Fulham possessed the sparkle on Saturday that is supposed to accompany expensively assembled teams. Fabio Capello, the England manager, was at Craven Cottage to witness the enigma that is Jimmy Bullard, who, in patently unnecessary gloves, scored a classy goal from a tight angle and forced a superb save with a blistering free kick.

“At least he didn’t have his scarf on,” Aaron Hughes, the Fulham defender, said. “Sometimes, in training, he wears it. There’s a character in every team. He lifts the mood and it transfers on to the pitch. You see him bubbly, looking for the ball.”

But that was after Fulham had woken up. City took the lead through Benjani Mwaruwari’s header in the sixth minute and Hodgson was worried enough to suffer a sort of flashback. “I haven’t forgotten we stayed in this league on goal difference [last season],” he said. Hodgson did not make any substitutions because his best team were on the pitch and Fulham are not the sort of club with pace or power on the bench.“I’m really quite happy with the squad we’ve got,” Hodgson said. “I hear the words ‘impact player’ mentioned and I sort of embrace the principle that these players exist, but I don’t know quite how we’re going to get them because he if we had a player who was good enough he’d be on the field in the first place.”

Fulham and City may be at opposite ends of the spectrum financially, but Hodgson’s team were the more comfortable for knowing who should be in their best XI – and perhaps will be for the rest of the season.

Fulham (4-4-2): M Schwarzer 5 – J Paintsil 5, A Hughes 5, B Hangeland 7, P Konchesky 5 – C Dempsey 5, J Bullard 7, D Murphy 6, S Davies 5 – A Johnson 7, R Zamora 6. Substitutes not used: P Zuberbühler, E Nevland, Z Gera, D Etuhu, F Stoor, L Andreasen, T Kallio. Booked: Bullard. Next: Stoke City (a).

Manchester City (4-3-2-1): J Hart 6 – P Zabaleta 6, R Dunne 5, T Ben-Haim 6, M Ball 5 – D Hamann 5, V Kompany 5, S Ireland 6 – D Vassell 5, S Wright-Phillips 5 – Benjani 6 (sub: C Evans, 77min). Substitutes not used: K Schmeichel, N Onuoha, Jô, F Caicedo, S Logan, G Berti. Booked: Ireland. Next: Everton (h).

Referee R Styles Attendance 24,012