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.
It would be his last contribution as Sergio Gomez,
who was about to make his City debut,
took his place to the tremendous applause of the crowd.
The Brazilian, however,
misjudged the lurking Odsonne Edouard when he attempted to roll the ball to his colleague. Edouard cleverly intercepted the attempt,
allowing Jordan Ayew to tap the ball in as a result.
To the shock of both Palace players and supporters,
referee Graham Scott determined that Edouard had committed a foul, preventing Palace from going up 3-0 in less than 30 minutes.
Erling Haaland’s hat trick helped Manchester City rally from a 2-0 deficit to defeat Crystal Palace 4-2 in a remarkable comeback victory for the reigning champions.
Palace struck on their first two opportunities to go up 2-0 in the first half,
shocking the Etihad Stadium with a Joachim Andersen header and an own goal by John Stones.
Erling Haaland scored a hat trick in the second half to show how crucial he is to his new team,
while Bernardo Silva pulled one back for Manchester City as they mounted a comeback.
With the victory,
Manchester City has now gone undefeated and has 10 out of a possible 12 points, while Palace has four.
What Crystal Palace vs. Manchester City taught us
Manchester City has been careless defensively,
giving up three goals at Newcastle last weekend and two at Palace on Saturday. Pep Guardiola will likely concentrate on eliminating the unnecessary errors following the game. Although Palace didn’t have much of the ball,
the reigning champions’ poor defensive play in allowing crosses into the box to wreak unneeded havoc prevented them from scoring on their first (and only) two opportunities.
At the Etihad Stadium,
a first-half own goal by John Stones and a Joachim Andersen header placed Palace in position to pull off a shocking victory,
rocking Pep Guardiola’s team.
City have trailed by two goals in four of their previous six Premier League games.
However, they had won the previous three and this one as well,
all thanks to Haaland’s valiant efforts.
Haaland scored his first home goal for City since joining for £50 million ($58 million) in the summer after Bernardo Silva restored parity early in the second half.
At the Etihad Stadium,
a John Stones own goal and a Joachim Andersen header shocked Pep Guardiola’s team in the first half and gave Palace hope of a surprise victory.
In four of their previous six Premier League games,
City had trailed by two goals.
But they had won the other three, and this one too,
thanks to Haaland’s valour.
Haaland scored City’s first home goal since his £50 million ($58 million) summer transfer from Borussia Dortmund after Bernardo Silva had pulled one back early in the second half.
After falling behind 3-1 at Newcastle the previous Saturday before drawing 3-3,
it was City’s second consecutive comeback.
Even if the champs haven’t been perfect,
they’ve won three of their first four games,
and that puts them first in the standings before Arsenal’s encounter against Fulham later on Saturday.
We score a lot of goals thanks to our good fortune,
but our current issue is that we give up a lot of goals. We find it difficult to do the risky actions, according to Guardiola.
