Fulham boss Mark Hughes says Manchester City struggle if Carlos Tevez is off his game.
The previous meeting between the two sides this season ended in an emphatic 4-1 victory for the Manchester side, and Hughes agreed with the suggestion that yesterday's 1-1 draw, and performance, was an indication of how much his Fulham team have improved over the subsequent four months.
"I think so," he said "You saw a different type of performance.
"The first game [in November] was still early days, but in fairness I don't think I've seen City play better in an attacking sense than they did on that day, it was just unfortunate that we were on the wrong end of it.
They were excellent then and we didn't have the answers, but today we restricted very good players to very few opportunities, and I think that's a reflection of the work we've done and the commitment that the players are showing now.
"The key to it was that we were able to keep Carlos Tevez quiet, because he really is their catalyst for everything. Keeping him quiet takes a lot from City's game, so thankfully we were able to do that."