Crystal Palace 1-4 Manchester City: result and report

Report

Manchester City won 4-1 at Crystal Palace, and the margin was a fair reflection of the game. City came in as the side expected to win. The scoreline briefly tightened after the break, but the performance never moved far from that script.

Erling Haaland gave City the lead on 17 minutes from Antoine Semenyo's pass. Despite that early advantage, it stayed 1-0 until the second half.

The game was settled in a five-minute spell after the break. Rayan Cherki made it 2-0 on 54 minutes from Phil Foden's assist. Crystal Palace were back in it almost at once when Gianluigi Donnarumma put the ball into his own net two minutes later. That hope lasted only three minutes, because Cherki struck again on 59 minutes, this time set up by Josko Gvardiol. Haaland added the fourth on 84 minutes, again from a Foden pass, while Cherki's two goals earned him player of the match.

Manchester City's chances against Crystal Palace's

The scoreline matched the chances because City created far more of them. They finished with 2.67 xG to Crystal Palace's 0.59. They also had nine shots on target to one, so Palace's goalkeeper was busy even though four went in.

This was sustained pressure, not a few lucky moments. City had 72% of the ball, 15 key passes to seven and far more dangerous attacks. Their pressure stayed much higher across the 90 minutes, which suggests Palace spent most of the match defending rather than building anything of their own.

Crystal Palace: the near misses

Palace still had openings, though, and that is the one counter-signal. They created three big chances and missed all of them, and they also hit the woodwork. Yet they managed only one shot on target all game, and their goal came from an own goal rather than their own finishing. Better finishing might have made the closing half-hour tenser. It would not have changed who carried the game.