Manchester City put pressure on their Premier League title rivals on Saturday lunchtime by beating Crystal Palace 4-2 in the capital.
Both sides showed their teeth in an entertaining first half at Selhurst Park, with Kevin De Bruyne’s wonder strike cancelling out Jean-Philippe Mateta’s impressive opener.
However, second-half goals from Rico Lewis, Erling Haaland and De Bruyne helped Man City eventually ease to victory, moving them level on points with table-toppers Liverpool before their trip to Old Trafford on Sunday.
How the game unfolded
Man City knew that there was huge pressure on them to kick the weekend off with a win in the Premier League title race, but they made a nightmare start at Selhurst Park after falling behind early on.
It was a swift breakaway from Crystal Palace that carved them open, with Mateta latching on to a through ball and rifling his strike in off the post to stun the reigning champions after just three minutes.
The visitors responded well to going behind and Rodri came close to producing a quickfire equaliser, but Dean Henderson tipped his bouncing effort just wide of the post.
However, Man City did grab a leveller just ten minutes after Palace’s opener, De Bruyne sending an absolutely stunning effort into the top corner from just inside the area.
Pep Guardiola’s side should have taken the lead before the 20-minute mark as Haaland was denied by Henderson following De Bruyne’s defence-splitting pass, with Jordan Ayew spurning an opening at the other end by volleying over the bar.
Ayew almost capitalised on a rare Rodri error to restore the Eagles’ advantage before the break, but the Palace forward’s powerful shot clipped the top of the crossbar and went behind for a goal kick.
Despite a shaky first-half display, Man City did muscle their way in front just two minutes after the restart, with young Lewis’ deflected strike from close range flying beyond Henderson in the Palace goal.
Man City were in complete control after taking the lead and Haaland secured all three points by adding his name to the scoresheet with a poacher’s finish. Set up by De Bruyne’s near-post cross, the Norwegian prodded home from point-blank range to put the game to bed just after the hour mark.
De Bruyne capped his excellent display with yet another superb strike to rub salt in the Palace wounds, firing a left-footed drive past Henderson at his near post following Rodri’s neat set-up.
Odsonne Edouard did reduce the deficit with a smart finish from the…
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