Crystal Palace 2 Man City 4
Pep Guardiola’s side travelled to Selhurst Park to face a Crystal Palace team depleted by injury. Man City needed victory to keep up the pace in the three-horse title race. The visitors were looking to extend a 24-match unbeaten run.
The Eagles had not read the script as the they broke from their own half with a routine ball played in behind the defence and Mateta used his physical presence to get away from the defender. He struck his shot across Ortega and into the far corner to give the hosts an early lead.
Man City’s manager will not be pleased with many aspects of the goal as his side were undone by a very simple pass. His reaction on the bench told its own story as he jumped out of his seat throwing his arms around like someone had told him that Portugal had invaded Spain.
Bobb then played the ball to Alvarez in the box who tried a shot from a tight angle but Ward was there to clear his lines and ensure that Palace held onto their lead. The hosts knew that their defensive game would need to be spot on to get anything out of this game.
Credit: @premierleague
Guardiola’s side continued to press and as Rodri got a shot away from the edge of the box, seemingly heading into the bottom corner, but Henderson got down well to claw the ball behind for a corner. The visitors were starting to knock on the door.
Grealish then got to the byline before cutting the ball back to De Bruyne. He checked onto his right foot and bent one in the top corner with the Palace keeper having no chance of stopping it. When fully fit, the Belgian midfielder is still one of the best in the game.
Mitchell then lifted a ball into the box for Crystal Palace and Ortega punched it half-clear when he really should have been catching it. The ball dropped to Ayew on the volley but he could not keep his effort below the crossbar.
De Bruyne played a defence-splitting pass through the middle to Haaland, putting the Norwegian clean through with only the keeper to beat. Last season this would have had goal written all over it but on this occasion, Henderson made a good block.
Crystal Palace continued to cause problems at the other end of the pitch. A mistake by Rodri gifted the ball to the hosts and Ayew opted to take the shot on, despite options left and right. His effort clipped the top of the crossbar with the keeper beaten.
As Glasner’s side continued to ask questions of the champions, Rodri played a dangerous ball back to his own keeper which was almost cut out by Mateta. Fortunately for the visitors, Ortega did well to steer the ball away from the striker with an audacious drag-back.
Credit: @ManCity
Whatever Guardiola said at half-time worked as Grealish’s cross caused problems and Palace failed to clear their lines. The ball dropped to Lewis who took one touch to control it, before drilling the ball into the bottom corner to give Man City the lead.
Lewis was involved again as he played it to De Bruyne, whose neat header was cushioned into the path of Haaland. The striker took it around the keeper but too wide for him to score, he found Alvarez, whose shot was blocked by the hosts.
City were piling on the pressure and a neat reverse pass from Grealish found De Bruyne on the byline. He spotted the run of Haaland who beat his man to the ball to slot home. It ended a drought on the road for the prolific striker. Breathing space for the visitors.
Man City were in complete control of the game by this stage and Grealish was once again involved. His pass to Rodri was cushioned into the path of De Bruyne who scored to get his 100th goal for the club to surely put the game to bed.
Crystal Palace got a consolation as Schlupp crossed into the near post for Edouard to guide the ball into the far corner. It was a little late for Oliver Glasner’s side to mount a comeback and kept Man City in touch with both Arsenal and Liverpool.
Did you enjoy this article? Please share to your social media. With one click you can help spread the word and make Solid at the Back the one-stop shop for all Premier League fans.