OTD: Palace's festive ‘Bonanza’ at the Etihad - News

On this day (22nd December) in 2018, Palace headed to the Etihad with a series of records and statistics eager for them to fail. City were the Premier League holders with a 100 percent record at home that season. Palace hadn’t won at City for 28 years.

But records are meant to be broken, and so they were thanks to a swing of Andros Townsend’s boot.

Things seemed to be going according to the script: Ilkay Gündogan scored the opener and City were purring. Then Jeff Schlupp equalised, and suddenly Palace had momentum: a free-kick out wide, and a chance to float the ball into the box.

Patrick van Aanholt delivered, Bernardo Silva failed to clear and then: smack. Silence. There are few better sounds than tens of thousands of people stunned into silence, with only the distant delirium of the away end serving as a soundtrack to one of the goals of the season.

Townsend hit it full on the volley, arrowing the ball into the top corner with the goalkeeper given no chance. It was an extraordinary goal, given the rare honour of a nomination for the prestigious FIFA Puskas Award, collating the best goals from anywhere in world football that calendar year.

But the Eagles still had a game to win, and Luka Milivojevic’s second-half penalty extended their lead. Things became tense with five minutes remaining as Kevin De Bruyne got one back, but Palace held on for a famous three points.

“Today was one of those bonanza days,” said Roy Hodgson after full-time. He had become the first English manager since Harry Redknapp almost a decade earlier to win at the Etihad.

An extraordinary festive occasion - and with Palace coming from two goals down to draw at the Etihad in December this year, we can look back on another fine festive visit in years to come.

Related News