Summary:
- Palace unchanged from midweek defeat at Bournemouth
- Mateta breaks away to place Palace ahead in the fourth minute
- Gvardiol heads over from close range moments later
- Henderson twice denies Rodri with stunning saves
- De Bruyne finds the top corner with remarkable strike after 13 minutes
- Henderson then denies Haaland one-on-one
- City probe for a second but Palace hold firm under pressure
- Ayew smashes against the bar as half-time approaches
- HT: Palace 1-1 Man City
- Mateta drills into the side-netting immediately after the restart
- Lewis lashes City into the lead a minute later
- Andersen makes key block from Alvarez as visitors seek a third
- Haaland taps in City’s third on 66 minutes
- De Bruyne scores the visitors’ fourth moments later
- Edouard denied late consolation by block on the line
- Forward reduces the deficit with a near-post finish
- FT: Palace 2-4 Man City
It's no secret that a Saturday lunchtime kick-off can often take a short while to come to the boil – but not so on this occasion, as the match started in frenetic fashion.
Oliver Glasner – naming an unchanged starting XI from the midweek defeat to Bournemouth – had noted ahead of the match that he anticipated spells of sustained City pressure, but also opportunities for his team on the counter.
So the case proved after just four minutes, as a turnover in possession saw a quick interchange of passes by Palace on the halfway line.
A fine first-time pass from Adam Wharton set Jean-Philippe Mateta running clear. As Ruben Dias sprinted across to tackle, the forward kept his cool to place a pinpoint low finish across the face of goal and into the bottom corner – his fourth goal in his last six matches.
You don’t enjoy quite the level of success Pep Guardiola’s team have in recent seasons, however, without the ability to mount a response, and City’s was immediate: Josko Gvardiol ought to have equalised within seconds, but flicked over the bar when unmarked from six yards out.
The pressure continued to mount, and Dean Henderson was forced to make two fine stops from Rodri in quick succession: the first was instinctive, with his leg, as the Spaniard drilled across goal, but the second was an outstanding, plunging save after the midfielder seemed to have half-volleyed an effort perfectly into the bottom corner from just inside the box.
Sadly, the reprieve was momentary, as Kevin de Bruyne scored a superb equaliser after 13 minutes, cutting in from the left and sweeping a soaring effort into the top corner. On this occasion, Henderson had no chance.
Palace’s moments, as Glasner had foreseen, were still coming, and only slightly overhit final balls from Wharton and Daniel Muñoz denied Ebere Eze the chance to get a shot away at the end of two promising breaks.
Henderson’s superb opening 20 minutes continued when Erling Haaland raced onto de Bruyne's pass and ran clean through, but the shot-stopper made himself big and stuck out a leg to deny the striker.
After a frantic first quarter of the match, the pattern of play settled somewhat, with City dominant in possession but Palace threatening on the counter. Indeed, the Eagles perhaps ought to have retaken the lead moments before half-time.
Jordan Ayew picked Rodri’s pocket 40 yards from goal and drove towards the box. With a square pass on for Mateta, Ayew used his teammate’s run as a decoy and instead struck a rising effort from the edge of the box – it veered towards the top corner, but crashed against the crossbar rather than the back of the net.
Nevertheless, Palace were full value for their parity at half-time, giving as good as they got. Sadly, the traffic was more one-way in the second period.
