MANCHESTER CITY ROUT PALACE AND MAINTAIN A TOP-4 SPOT – Coverage on Premier League – Matches, Transfer News, and More!

In a continued effort to secure a top-4 spot, Manchester City welcomed Crystal Palace to the Etihad. Prior to this game, Crystal Palace (19) had acquired more points than Manchester City (17) in their previous 10 games. However, things didn’t look too bright at the start with the hosts edging out in front. In the second minute, Martin Kelly poorly “cleared” the ball, dreadfully heading it into David Silva’s path, who received the gift and slammed City in front, marking his return to the starting line-up. His strike was Manchester City’s fastest PL goal since February 2015 (Aguero vs Newcastle). City held on to this early lead for the whole first half, going into the break one nil up.

Four minutes into the second half, Vincent Kompany connected to Kevin de Bruyne’s powerful pass, smashing the ball into the top corner. He has now netted two goals in his last 4 PL games, as many as in his previous 43. Manchester City then got into their stride, scoring 3 goals in the final 30 minutes of the game. In the 60th minute, teenager Gabriel Jesus managed to keep the ball alive, poking it to de Bruyne who coolly slotted home from the edge of the box. De Bruyne has been involved in the most goals for Man City this season with 5 goals and 15 assists; his 15 assists this season is the joint-most by a Man City player in a single PL campaign (Silva 2011/12). City’s fourth and second to last goal came in the 82nd minute as Pablo Zabaleto headed down Yaya Toure’s long ball to Raheem Sterling who  smashed it home on his weaker left foot. This was the first time that both Sterling and Silva scored in the same PL game for Manchester City. City’s last goal came in stoppage time as de Bruyne whipped in a free kick that met the head of Nicolas Otamendi who powerfully headed in past Wayne Hennessey, his first goal since October 2015 against Norwich and the 400th PL goal scored by an Argentinian. After tearing apart Crystal Palace in their 9th win out of their last 10 meetings with them, Manchester City moved into third place, behind Spurs and Chelsea. Palace remain in 16th place, four points above the relegation zone.