Manchester City overcame to defeat Crystal Palace
Manchester City overcame a two-goal deficit at the interval to defeat Crystal Palace thanks in large part to three goals from Erling Haaland.
After a John Stones own goal and a Joachim Andersen header from an Eberechi Eze corner gave the visitors an improbable lead,
it looked as though Palace’s weird hex against Pep Guardiola would continue.
In the 22nd minute,
City’s situation worsened when they were once more defeated by a set-piece. Eze once more provided the corner,
from which Andersen was able to smash a header in while going unnoticed.
The irritation of the home team grew as the half
went on and more time was needed for each of Vicente Guaita’s goal kicks as a well-organized Palace team pushed the ball in numbers and nipped at City’s heels to deny them time and space on the ball.
One may argue that after 28 minutes,
Palace ought to be up 3-0. Cheick Doucoure’s shot was blocked by Ederson,
who subsequently attempted to roll the ball out. Although the goalie was not fouled,
referee Darren England signalled for a free-kick after Odsonne Edouard diverted the ball to Ayew,
who quickly struck the bottom corner.
Prior to Palace’s second goal,
Haaland had headed over a corner from Riyad Mahrez,
and after Palace’s second goal, he had blasted from a close angle into the side-netting,
but the visiting defence had cut off his supply lines.
Ilkay Gundogan and Julian Alvarez were both stripped and prepared to be substituted early in the second half,
but Guardiola decided against it after Silva gave City the lead again in the 53rd minute.
As he cut in from the right before firing a low shot that deflected off Jeffrey Schlupp on its way to the goal,
the Portugal international once again shown why Guardiola last week ruled out the idea of him leaving.
After the hour mark,
Gundogan and Alvarez did enter the game,
and Alvarez had an immediate impact as City tied the score in the 62nd.
He flicked on a deep cross to Foden,
who chipped the ball back in for Haaland, who got across Marc Guehi to head in his first Etihad goal.
Eight minutes later he had his second. From a short corner,
Alvarez fed Silva who pulled the ball back for Stones and he rolled it across for Haaland to poke home from all of a yard.
And he sealed his hat-trick with 10 minutes to go. Silva’s through-ball found his run perfectly,
and the Norwegian had the strength to hold off Joel Ward before firing into the bottom corner.
It would be his final contribution as Sergio Gomez,
on to make his City debut,
replaced him to the sound of a thunderous roar around the ground.
He sent a long cross for Foden to flick on,
and Foden chipped the ball back for Haaland,
who went past Marc Guehi to head in his first Etihad goal.
The second came eight minutes later. Alvarez feed Silva,
who then pulled the it back for Stones and rolled it across for Haaland to poke home from a yard away after receiving the ball from a short corner.
With 10 minutes left,
he completed a hat trick. The Norwegian was perfectly positioned for Silva’s through-ball, and he had the strength to hold off Joel Ward before burying the shot into the bot tom corner.
