12 April 2025
Man City 5 Crystal Palace 2
As we head into the business end of the season, the race for Champions League qualification is hotting up. Pep Guardiola knows that his side can ill-afford to be out of Europe’s elite competition and every match is going to be a cup final until the last fiixture. They welcomed Crystal Palace to The Etihad with Oliver Glasner’s side in a rich vein of form.
That confidence was there for all to see from the kick-off. The Eagles came forward with Sarr down the flank, who played an inch-perfect cross into the middle. It evaded everyone, including Ederson, leaving Eze with a simple tap-in into an empty goal at the back post. The Etihad fell silent with only eight minutes having been played in this game.
The visitors continued to strive forward and as an attack broke down, Man City looked to hit them on the counter. As it was played to De Bruyne in the middle of the park, he slotted a perfectly-weighted pass into the feet of Marmoush. The Egyptian striker had got in front of his marker but was denied by Henderson who blocked his effort. The Belgian met the rebound but Richards deflected it behind.
Glasner’s side forced their first corner of the match. As Wharton swung in a left-footed cross, Richards rose at the near post to head home with Ederson nowhere to be seen. It was the worst possible start for the hosts and Guardiola was looking stressed on the touchline. This is not the script he had read for this match at all.
De Bruyne almost got his side back into the game when his shot from outside of the box struck the post and came back out to Gundogan who could not send his effort goalwards. Palace went straight up the other end and Eze bent a sublime shot around Ederson to seemingly open up a three-goal lead for the visitors. However, VAR was to come to the rescue of City as it was ruled out for offside.
As Man City’s talisman edges towards his final game for the club, his performance levels never seem to drop. As the hosts won a free-kick in a dangerous position, De Bruyne stepped up to take it and his shot struck the inside of the post on its way into the net. Suddenly, Guardiola’s side were back in this game with just over half an hour played.
Moments later, they should have been on level terms. Marmoush clipped a cross into the box to find McAtee completely unmarked in the middle of the goal. His glancing header did not have enough on it as a big chance was wasted. He made amends shortly after when his cross from the byline eventually dropped to the Egyptian, who drilled it past Henderson to equalise.
After the interval, Man City continued to pile the pressure on the visitors. De Bruyne was involved again as he laid it off to Kovacic on the edge of the box. The Croatian struck a low shot into the bottom corner to complete the comeback for the hosts. The Eagles did not seem to have an answer to the onslaught from the defending champions.
Crystal Palace were sinking without a trace in this match. A long ball forward by Ederson set McAtee away in behind the visitors’ defence. Henderson came rushing out and mistimed his challenge as the youngster took it around him. He calmly slotted into the back of the net from a tight angle to give the hosts some breathing space in the game.
For all their attacking threat in the early stages, the defending from The Eagles was woeful. Man City were playing their way through them all too easily. The Etihad was bouncing as normal service was resumed and they were being treated to a deluge of goals. Even with over half an hour remaining, there seemed no way back for Glasner’s side.
De Bruyne was putting in a performance of old, underpinning just how much his abilities will be missed when he moves onto pastures new. He squared it to Marmoush in the six yard box, who should have scored, but Henderson blocked the effort. It finally fell to O’Reilly but his header looped over the bar as another opportunity passed City by.
It was one-way traffic by this stage and a poor headed clearance fell to O’Reilly on the penalty spot. He calmly placed his volley into the bottom corner to put the icing on the cake for the hosts. They secured all three points to keep their Champions League qualification hopes on track. Guardiola’s side staged a superb comeback after finding themselves two goals down in the game.
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