Man City 2 Crystal Palace 2
Pep Guardiola’s side were without scoring machine Erling Haaland as they welcomed Crystal Palace to the Etihad Stadium. They were keen to get a win to keep up with the pace at the top, before heading off to the Club World Cup in Saudi Arabia.
Man City started in positive mood as Kyle Walker clipped a cross into the box, finding the head of Julian Alvarez. His header was heading into the bottom corner before Dean Henderson got down well to tip the ball around the post.
In his first start for Crystal Palace, the ex-Man Utd keeper was right to expect a busy afternoon against the defending champions. Ruben Dias struck a shot from outside the box which narrowly fizzed past the top corner with the keeper at full stretch.
Roy Hodgson’s side were having to put their bodies on the line to protect their goal. Rodri was the next player to try and break the deadlock but Marc Guehi managed to deflect his shot just wide of the far post. City were starting to knock on the door, with Palace struggling to get out of their own half.
Credit: @premierleague
Seeing Guardiola’s side with only one win in their last six games in the form guide makes you question reality. Much like witnessing humans who identify as cats you start to wonder whether you are on some psychedelic acid trip and question the world we live in, along with the people in it.
Finally the hosts broke the deadlock when Phil Foden fed the ball into the path of Jack Grealish who slotted his first time shot into the bottom corner. He looked just offside in the replay but often the lines of VAR can seem as blurred as those set for Tory MP’s during a pandemic lockdown.
Gvardiol found himself in The Eagles’ box, taking the pass on his chest before getting a shot off at goal. Henderson came out quickly and managed to block his effort with most City fans wondering what the centre back was doing in a position usually occupied by Erling Haaland.
As the visitors came forward for the first time, Olise threaded a pass through to Mateta who took it around Ederson outside the box only for the City keeper to wipe him out. Covering defenders saved him in the grand scheme of things as the referee produced a yellow card.
Early in the second half Alvarez bent a free kick into the box which went all the way in but was ruled out for offside. Although Rodri had failed to get the flick he was attempting, he was in the keeper’s eyeline affecting play.
The hosts finally got their second goal as Palace struggled to deal with a ball into the box and Rico Lewis smashed it home. Henderson had no time to react before the shot was nestling in the back of the net. This was starting to look to a routine day in the office for Man City.
Credit: @CPFC
Bernardo Silva looked to bend one in the top corner from the edge of the box but Henderson made a great save to tip it around the post. Crystal Palace just did not know how big of a moment that would turn out to be in the grand scheme of things.
The visitors came forward for a rare attack and as Schlupp drilled a cross into a sea of sky blue shirts, Ederson was stranded at the near post as Mateta slid in to get a goal back. The Etihad stadium fell silent apart from the away fans who had made the trip from London.
All of the Man City fans around the ground looked physically shocked and nervous, like they had heard the verdict had just come in from their 115 FFP breaches. We hadn’t seen such reaction from these fans since they had gone through Oasis’ split up.
They were proved right to feel edgy as The Eagles came forward once again and as Foden looked to boot the ball away, Mateta got there first and the City player inadvertently kicked the Palace striker and Paul Tierney immediately pointed to the spot.
Deep into added time, Michael Olise stepped up and sent Ederson the wrong way as he buried his penalty into the bottom corner. It was too late for Man City to react and Crystal Palace came away from the game with a very unlikely point.
It was a hard-earned result for Roy Hodgson’s side as they looked to stop the rot, having failed to win a single game in their last six outings. Man City head off to Saudi Arabia wondering how their league form has gone so pear-shaped of late.
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