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Summary:
- Milivojevic and Schlupp in the starting XI for Eze and the suspended Doucouré
- Rodri’s volley forces Guaita to make an early save
- Grealish checks inside but shoots wide for the guests
- Zaha misses in the box as both teams have early chances in SE25
- City dominate possession but Palace threaten on the break
- Haaland with a clear chance from six meters over
- Palace go straight as Zaha tries to deflect just wide
- Visitors press, but Palace hold their ground
- HT: Palace 0-0 Manchester City
- City start the second half brilliantly as Guaita smashes away a Gundogan free-kick
- Alvarez turns sharply and shoots over the goal from a good position
- City up the pressure but Palace defend set pieces well
- The guests take the lead with fifteen minutes to go when Haaland converts the penalty
- Moments later, Norwegian shoots wide after a tackle with Guaita
- Haaland heads over at close range as Palace sends bodies forward
- Palace put the pressure on but couldn’t find a late equaliser
- FT: Palace 0-1 Manchester City
Heading into a period when Palace will face the top two sides in the Premier League – plus Brighton & Hove Albion – Patrick Vieira had urged his players to put on a show against City with two ingredients: cohesion and fearlessness.
With Luka Milivojevic starting in midfield in place of the suspended Cheick Doucouré, fear was likely never on the agenda as the club captain and Jeffrey Schlupp returned to the starting XI as two substitutions from Palace.
Nonetheless, Pep Guardiola’s side remained by far the division’s top scorer and approached their role at Selhurst Park with much early intention.
Indeed, Palace were grateful for Vicente Guaita’s sharp reflexes in the opening minutes, the Spaniard reacting quickly to parry Rodri’s fierce volley from a half-cleared free-kick.
Jack Grealish was the next to get close to the visitors, penetrating the Palace’s defenses and firing a low shot past the near post. However, Guaita had it covered again.
As the visitors began to dominate possession in typical fashion, Palace themselves were by no means passive on offense and could have taken the lead a moment later when Nathaniel Clyne’s low ball didn’t quite match Wilfried Zaha to put it right from six yards out .
With Schlupp and Michael Olise inside and all 11 players covering plenty of grass, City tested consistently but found it difficult to create clear chances.
However, they should have taken the lead after 26 minutes. With 27 goals in 25 Premier League games before the game, Erling Haaland looked all but guaranteed to sweep home after being found six meters away by Nathan Aké, but the striker missed horribly under pressure from Marc Guéhi.
The rest of the first half saw the same pattern apply; City dominate possession while Palace continue to look dangerous on the break, Zaha comes closest to the home side as his attempt at a curl just misses the far post.
With the players reappearing after half-time, Palace once again showed their skills against a top-flight side, resilience and work-rate coming to the fore as they attempted to deny the visitors a scoring chance.
But when City can bring players like World Cup winner Julian Alvarez off the bench, that’s probably always going to be a challenge, as the Argentine is soon turning deftly on the edge of the box – before hitting an uphill effort wide of the bar.
No team has had a better defensive record from set pieces in the Premier League this season than Palace and that stat was tested further in the second half as City continued to deliver threatening balls into the box and Joachim Andersen scored some header goals, clearing under pressure and Guaita saving piercing drives from Alvarez and Ilkay Gundogan.
But in the final quarter of an hour, City’s continued pressure finally showed; Olise is said to have fouled Gundogan following a corner and Haaland stepped in to send Guaita the wrong way and put the visitors on course for victory.
Palace threw bodies forward in search of the equalizer and gave Haaland two more chances to score – shooting wide in a one-on-one before heading over the goal from a central position – but the lead remained just one goal.
Unfortunately, while substitute Eze deflected a shot wide in the second half and Zaha saw a retreat that found Edouard almost six yards from goal, that huge chance didn’t come for Palace, who were once again denied any real reward for a performance of character and Battle.
Palace: Guaita (GK), Clyne (Station 71), Andersen, Guéhi, Mitchell, Milivojevic (Ahamada, 61), Lokonga, Ayew, Olise, Schlupp, Zaha
Substitutes: Whitworth (TW), Tomkins, Richards, Riedewald Eze, Mateta, Edouard
Manchester City: Ederson (TG), Dias, Stones (Walker 89), Aké, Akanji, Gundogan, Rodri, Silva (De Byurne 79), Foden (Alvarez, 58), Grealish, Haaland
Substitutes: Ortega (TW), Lewis, Phillips, Laporte, Mahrez, Palmer
