MEDITATIONS ON ENGLAND

Stoic philosopher Marcus Aurelius seems a strange bedfellow for eager Premier League referee Darren England, but we are sailing through odd and difficult waters. 

Fatherless since childhood, Marcus Aurelius was raised by his wealthy single mother, Domitia Lucilia. In 139, she hired Fronto, a Libyan nomad who had shipped up in Rome looking for work and meaning, to teach her son and prepare him for a career in politics.

There is no striking evidence that Darren England was either fatherless or raised by African philosopher nomads, but his actions had a similarly galvanising effect on the Etihad on Saturday as the poet Aurelius' words once had on his followers in Ancient Rome. Meditations, indeed. There was scant time for that, as City's ten were moved to great deeds rather than thoughts.

City's modern-day gladiators, dressed in sky blue and without the helpful aid of either tridents or swords, tore into Fulham in a way that the visitors could hardly have been expecting, even if they knew they were on one of the toughest assignments of the league campaign. And England, as is often the case these days, was the root cause of much of their later discomfort.   

Darren England had quite the weekend. Beginning in Manchester and ending in North London (or thereabouts), the Premier League referee managed to ignite not only debate, but a ferocious comeback from City that fair took the breath away. It is a feat that will have a lasting effect on this year's title race.

Stung by apparent injustice, the ferocity of City's response not only made the eyes water but also lit a bonfire under the crowd and, by the end, had the manager and coaching staff in a rare froth of fist-clenching and touchline bellowing. Pep Guardiola even managed to gurn into one of the pitchside cameras for extra effect as the emotions ran over. 

Those that felt the full "lap of honour" at the end of the game was milking it slightly, underestimate what these key moments of a season do to a group set a challenge of winning the game's highest honours. There was a spirit and a ferocity of achievement on display that rarely surfaces in such an unprovoked manner and which bodes well for what this group intends to try and achieve come May.

It was only Fulham, after all. 

It is no fault of the visitors that "Fulham at home" rarely gets the adrenaline pulsing. The away support is polite and unfussy but has often been sparse and stubbornly passive on past occasions; the games can be pleasant on the eye but nothing to write home about. What football delivers so well, however, is the unexpected. It is a sport that can suddenly take off when you least expect it to.   

As Joao Cancelo completed the latest of a long series of uncoordinated brainwaves and cannoned into the advancing Harry Wilson, a penalty was inevitable. The strutting English, enjoying his second outing at the Etihad, duly pointed to the spot. So far, so predictable. What happened next elevated the situation to siege. Out came a red card. An unnecessary double jeopardy manoeuvre that has been highlighted many times before. 

City, reduced to ten men and, a moment later, on level terms again, were incensed. With the crowd incandescent, a fightback of Herculean proportion commenced. 10 v 11 and all square with 70 minutes to play. The response was jagged and grew to an exhausting cresendo, as Guardiola threw on Foden and Haaland to try to break Fulham's resolve.

The disallowed goal further upped the ante, as the Norwegian tank was judged to be slightly offside when heading in De Bruyne's curling cross, but the Belgian by now was carrying the whole show on his shoulders in the kind of display of mighty authority only certain players can produce. Joined by the tireless midfield work of Bernardo, Rodri and Gundogan, De Bruyne dragged City forward time and again until the raging storm finally brough its reward.

It was perhaps harsh on Fulham. It was certainly hard-going on the already frayed nerves. And it would be harsh to dwell on England's part in it all. He had after all made a reasonable call in reaction to Cancelo's petulant attempt at dispossession. 

Taken in isolation, the day was done. It was time to wipe the surfaces clean, tidy up and head off home. However, during the Sunday game at Tottenham, where Alexander Arnold's shove on Ryan Sessegnon went unpunished, a new scenario arrived. It was not wholly dissimilar to the foul perpetrated by Cancelo the day before, a little less reckless, but still a clear shove in the back. That it went unpunished by on-pitch referee and VAR officials alike served to highlight the grave problem of inconsistency in refereeing. 

That it was a certain Darren England in charge of VAR at White Hart Lane would have left Marcus Aurelius seriously lost for words.