Man City back at top with a resounding 3-1 win over Crystal Palace
The rise of Raheem Sterling is partly due to Pep Guardiola at Man City
Manchester City traveled to Selhurst Park knowing they needed all three points to keep the pressure on Liverpool who play Chelsea in the late fixture on Sunday. Pep Guardiola took no chances and started both Kevin De Bruyne & Sane who were left out of the starting XI for the Champions League game against Tottenham Hotspur.
Crystal Palace beat Man City in the reverse fixture at the Etihad stadium 3-2 and are one of the four teams to edge City out in the Premier League this season. That made this fixture a very interesting one in the context of the Premier League title race and City have won all of their last eight Premier League fixtures. With the chance to extend their winning run in the Premier League to 9, Pep Guardiola’s defending EPL champions started the game brightly.
The first big chance of the game fell to Raheem Sterling. Benteke gave the ball away to City and Leroy Sane managed to find David Silva in a crowded box. The Spanish maestro nicked named “El Mago” by the City faithful used his strength at the by-line to get ahead of a Palace defender and pass the ball brilliantly to Sterling at the far-post. The English winger only had to hit the target to open the scoring but remarkably shot the ball wide of the right post.
Five minutes later, Sterling managed to correct his mistake from a relatively more difficult chance after being launched through on goal by Kevin De Bruyne who orchestrated most of City’s attacks from the midfield. Sterling’s pace was too much for the retreating Scott Dan and Crystal Palace’s goal-keeper Guaita crouched slightly expecting a low shot from Sterling as the angle didn’t favour the Man City winger. Sterling, having spotted the Keeper’s movement, superbly shot the ball with his stronger right foot over Guaita’s head for the opening goal. De Bruyne’s outstanding through-ball was another indication of what Man City missed against Spurs in the Champions League.
A strong challenge from Vincent Kompany forced Schlupp to limp off the field in the 20th minute. He was replaced by Kouyate. In the 31st minute, Leroy Sane danced past Aaron Wan-Bissaka and a couple of Crystal Palace defenders before shooting from a tight angle but Guaita made the save to keep the score at 1-0.
As the first half was coming to and end, Gundagon perfectly lobbed a pass into the box beyond the Palace defenders and three City players had made the run. De Bruyne’s shot was deflected wide and Man City were able to get only a corner from a glorious opportunity to extend the lead. Man City ended the first half with a remarkable 78% possession but only had one goal to show for it.
As the second half commenced, Kevin De Bruyne was the central figure in City’s attack again. The Belgian carved a truly amazing pass to David Silva who left it for Sane but Kelly managed to deflect the ball before it reached the German. Guaita reacted quickly to stop the deflected ball from going in. Crystal Palace were in the match hanging by a thread and it seemed like City’s second was only a matter of time.
Man City’s second came in the 63rd minute after Leroy Sane burst through the left wing and picked Raheem Sterling in the middle. Sterling made no mistake with his left footed shot that beat Guaita and found the back of the net. Man City were cruising at 2-0 and were still creating chances. Pep Guardiola had the luxury of bringing on Bernardo Silva in place of David Silva and give the player returning from injury a good 30 minutes on the field.
Guardiola brought Gabriel Jesus in in the place of Aguero a few minutes later with the mid-week Champions League game in mind. Roy Hodgson responded in the 77th minute by sending in Meyer in place of Townsend. In the 80th minute, Palace won a free-kick in a dangerous area just in front of the box after McArthur was fouled by Gundogan.
Milivojevic scored from the free-kick beating the City wall and Ederson. The goal brought the home crowd back to their feet but their hopes didn’t last for long. Kevin DeBruyne and Jesus killed the game on a counter as Palace pressed for an equalizer. Man City won the ball back and DeBruyne dribbled into the Palace half before instigating Jesus on goal. The Brazilian’s shot was powerful enough to beat Guaita at the near-post. Man City passed a tricky test on the way to the finish line with flying colours by beating Crystal Palace 3-1 and the pressure is now on Liverpool to find the 3 points against Chelsea at Anfield.
LosMejor's Editorial Team includes a team of experts who cover the UEFA Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup and the Carabao Cup. The Editorial team is headed by Deepak Selvan.
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