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Sergio Agüero claimed anti-foreigner bias on two penalty decisions even though Manchester City still managed to win at Fulham. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA
Sergio Agüero claimed anti-foreigner bias on two penalty decisions even though Manchester City still managed to win at Fulham. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA

Manchester City's Sergio Agüero claims bias despite victory at Fulham

This article is more than 11 years old
Striker says it is harder for foreigners to get decisions
Two City penalty claims rejected at Craven Cottage

There was no great frustration to Sergio Agüero's assessment – his outlook born more of an acceptance that this is simply one reality of the modern global game – yet an issue was still there to be highlighted. The Argentinian is in his second season in the Premier League after five years in Spain, and so spoke with authority when suggesting that homegrown players benefit from a privilege not afforded to foreign imports by domestic referees.

The point was delivered in the aftermath of a timely win, not resentfully following a defeat but in a climate where players who are perceived to tumble too easily under challenges find themselves increasingly under scrutiny. Agüero's Manchester City team had two appeals for a penalty turned down on Saturday when Carlos Tevez and Pablo Zabaleta were floored in the area, but neither incident felt overly significant given that the visitors still emerged victorious. Liverpool's Luis Suárez has drawn more of the focus in recent times, as he did at Carrow Road this weekend, yet the champions are clearly conscious of the debate.

Asked if foreign players find life harder than English players in the Premier League when it came to officials' decisions, Agüero was clear. "Yes. Always," he said. "But it happens everywhere [in the world]. There is a little bit of privilege with players who come from that country. That is normal. We just play our game, and the referee's job is to know who is tricking him and who is not."

The City manager, Roberto Mancini, may have referred to Peter Crouch's recent goal for Stoke, where the forward used his hand to control the bouncing ball before converting, when bemoaning previous ill-fortune amid a "difficult" run of results, but Agüero's observations did not reflect a sense of grievance simmering at City.

Rather, his was a general observation on playing in alien surroundings. Are referees innately suspicious of foreign players? "Maybe, yes," said the striker. "It can happen, but I don't think it did here [at Craven Cottage]. If it does, it's not good for anyone. Here in England, there are almost as many foreign players as English players and it's not right that some have a privilege that others don't."

There was an irony that the only penalty awarded here was soft, and granted to a Norwegian in John Arne Riise after Zabaleta's slight tug. No team in the top flight can match the 14 nationalities Fulham have utilised in the Premier League to date this season, and yet Mladen Petric was still able to convert the spot-kick with ease to suggest City's recent sloppy form might be maintained.

The real privilege on view, however, was the depth in quality of the visitors' options. Agüero had equalised just before the break but Mancini still flung a mouth-watering array of attacking talent into the fray to register a first win in five attempts, ending with six forward-thinkers and two full-backs ever eager to charge ahead. Their second-half dominance of the ball was rewarded late with Edin Dzeko's emphatic winner.

All four of City's main strikers – Agüero, Dzeko, Tevez and Mario Balotelli – played for a period. "We have four forwards with a good attitude – maybe Mario sometimes so-so – but they're all good players," said Mancini. "It's difficult to put one or two on the bench but when they come on they can change a result, like today." Dzeko's goals in the campaign's early weeks might persuade the management to include him against Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday for a match City will feel they must win to inject momentum into their European quest.

Fulham's own forward inspiration, Dimitar Berbatov, was absent here – and will be against Southampton on Sunday as he recovers from a thigh injury. "Someone told me Dimitar had played 10 times against City and had lost only once," said Martin Jol ruefully. "He has the qualities that can make a difference against a team like that, and that had given me confidence earlier in the week. So that was disappointing. But I still expected a bit more from my team. We looked as if we were playing for a point, and you can't do that at home." Their own improvement is ongoing, their resistance actually admirable until they were punctured late on. Both these teams will feel they are merely warming up.

Man of the match David Silva (Manchester City)

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