Mateo Kovacic stepped up to the plate for Manchester City in their closely-contested 3-2 win against Fulham on Saturday.

Kovacic scored his first-ever brace in a City shirt with a pair of well-taken strikes against Marco Silva's side.

After Andreas Pereira's opener, the Croatian first scored the equaliser after the ball dropped to him from a corner and deflected off Joachim Andersen to fly into the back of the net.

Two minutes into the second half, the Manchester City midfielder's emphatic finish from outside the box capped off a slick move between himself, Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden.

Jeremy Doku added to the hosts' goal tally at the Etihad Stadium with a thunderous strike into the top corner.

Rodrigo Muniz's late goal meant Fulham were still in the game.

Kovacic reveals Guardiola tactic against Fulham However, Pep Guardiola's men managed to run the clock down and maintain their unbeaten start to the season.

On another day, the visitors could have punished City.

However, the Cottagers were often quite wasteful in front of goal, with Adama Traore in particular missing three gilt-edged one-on-one chances.

If the Premier League title race does go down to the wire, the Sky Blues' victory could be looked back as one that showcased their credentials as the potential champions of England.

Kovacic's goals in particular could be fondly remembered by City supporters as well.

After Manchester City defeated Fulham, the 30-year-old revealed that Pep Guardiola had asked him and the other midfielders in the side to be in and around the box in search of goalscoring opportunities.

The PS25 million man said via City's official website: "The manager told us [midfielders] we should be around the box because we're [Manchester City] always there. Today we pushed."

"Luckily I was there, Bernardo [Silva] gave me a great ball, in the end it was a good control and a good shot. So it was important as always that we win. It means a lot because my wife is pregnant so it was great to get some goals for the little one."

"It doesn't matter who scores, the most important are the three points and hopefully now we can continue like this."

Mateo Kovacic could become a big goal threat for Man City now If Kovacic continues to follow Pep Guardiola's advice, he could become a major goal threat for Manchester City this season.

The former Chelsea technician has scored three league goals this campaign already.

All of Kovacic's goals have emerged close to the opposition box this season.

As the ex-Real Madrid maestro stated, City tend to be parked inside the opposition's half in most games.

Kovacic should take advantage of such situations and continue going for goal.

It will be interesting to see whether the decorated orchestrator adds more goals to his tally this season.