Why Jeremy Doku was left ‘frustrated’ with Man City debut despite 5-1 win vs Fulham

Jeremy Doku was delighted to make his Manchester City debut on Saturday – but was left frustrated he couldn’t do more to affect the scoresheet against Fulham.

Doku came in on the left to replace the injured Jack Grealish, and looked good in flashes – especially when swapping with Phil Foden to play off the right wing instead.

City weren’t at their best in the first half, seeing Julian Alvarez’s opener cancelled out by Tim Ream’s tap-in immediately afterwards. A controversial Nathan Ake goal sent the Blues in ahead at the break, before Erling Haaland’s hat-trick put daylight between the sides and gloss on the scoresheet.

Doku lasted 75 minutes on his debut, receiving a good ovation when he went off – but the Belgian was left frustrated that he couldn’t get his first goal or assist in his first appearance.

Speaking to City TV, Doku said of his debut: “It’s a great feeling, a nice win which makes it better. Amazing crowd and a lot of goals.

“I was a bit nervous before the game, my first time signing for a big club, it’s normal. I tried my best for the team as much as possible. When you play at home you have an advantage, you do stuff and the crowd yells positively [to help].”

With Haaland getting a hat-trick and assist on a productive afternoon, Doku was excited to play alongside the striker this season – even if there were frustrations over not being able to supply him more against Fulham.

Asked what it was like to play with Haaland, he said: “It’s easy, he scores everything. He doesn’t need a lot of chances to score. Today we see it, in a difficult game he scored three goals. It helps us a lot.

“That’s why I’m frustrated that I can’t provide assists or goals for the team, as a first debut I tried my best and try to do it for the next games.”