Manchester City came from two goals down to beat Crystal Palace 5-2 at the Etihad Stadium and move into the top four.
Goals from Eberechi Eze and Chris Richards put Palace two up early in the game with Eze having another ruled out for offside that would have given Oliver Glasner’s side a three-goal advantage. As it was, Man City rallied well to turn the game on its head.
The impressive Kevin De Bruyne scored from a free-kick to pull one back and Omar Marmoush lashed in a quickfire second soon after. Mateo Kovacic scored 77 seconds after the restart before James McAtee, on his first league start for City, made it four.
The fifth came when Nico O’Reilly, another academy graduate, saw his volley deflected in for his first Premier League goal. Glasner will be frustrated by how easy Palace, without captain Marc Guehi but previously unbeaten away in 2025, made it for City in the end.
Their charge up the table suffers a setback with this defeat, their focus perhaps turning to the FA Cup now and the enticing prospect of a possible City rematch in the final. As for Guardiola’s side, this win moves them within two points of Nottingham Forest in third.
De Bruyne stars again for Man City
From a City perspective, the catalyst for the comeback was undoubtedly De Bruyne. The atmosphere was tense when he stood over that free-kick with his side two behind and team-mates nervous. With one swing of his famous right boot, the mood shifted.
He was involved in the second goal and set up the third, revelling in the advanced role that he has been afforded in the absence of Erling Haaland with Marmoush happier drifting wide. At 33, he is past his peak. But City will still miss him in the big moments.
Man City rally but look vulnerable
The game hinged on the moment Eze thought he had put Palace 3-0 up. The England player oozed class throughout and he finished with aplomb but will surely be frustrated to have let City off the hook because there was no great reason for him to be offside.
City were wide open anyway and had he held his run it would have made little difference to the outcome. That will be Glasner’s regret but Guardiola’s concern. As promising as City’s play was offensively, this was another alarming defensive showing from his side.
It was not so long ago that Guardiola had decided that stringing four natural central defenders across the back line was the best way to achieve success but with Manuel Akanji, John Stones and Nathan Ake all out, he was relying on two young full-backs.
Rico Lewis and O’Reilly have plenty of talent but were often positioned high up the pitch and the protection was just not there for Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol. Even so, the simplicity with which Richards nodded in from a corner suggests the issues run deeper.
More to follow…
