Ed Aarons was at Selhurst Park this afternoon. His verdict has landed. You know what to do. Thanks for reading this MBM!
Roy Hodgson talks. “It hurts to come away with nothing, but you’re playing a team with so much technical ability, that’s the problem. You have to work so hard to keep them at bay. The first goal isn’t because we have defended really badly, it’s a fantastic pass, control and shot. As a result they could take their foot off the gas a bit. The goalkeeper and back four were very good. Tyrick Mitchell can be very pleased with his performance.” He goes on to report that Wilfried Zaha is carrying a groin injury, while deflecting all talk of his personal plans for next season.
Pep speaks to BT. “I am absolutely delighted. After Champions League it is always tough. The players that didn’t play in Paris spoke on the green, and did it perfectly. The quality of the players made the difference. In the first half we struggled a little bit but that is normal, in the second half they were perfect. Sergio Aguero, what a goal. I am in love with him as a person, what a guy! What a goal! Of course he is ready. We can start to think about putting the champagne in the fridge. Not yet, but we put it in the fridge. I will check on the game tomorrow. The Premier League is already there. We need one more victory. Then we will give absolutely everything to reach the final.”
Sergio Aguero talks to BT. “The goal is good because maybe we can win the Premier League now. We wait for tomorrow. I don’t know [if I will watch the game] but I will see tomorrow. If Liverpool win, it’s better, no?!”
You couldn’t say that was a classic City performance ... and yet they still scored two magnificent goals and could have had several more. The mark of champions, right there. They wander off, all smiles. They’re 13 points clear of Manchester United, who need to avoid defeat tomorrow at home to Liverpool if they’re to keep their very faint title hopes alive. Palace meanwhile remain in 13th spot.
FULL TIME: Crystal Palace 0-2 Manchester City
Two goals in 84 seconds settled it. City are one win away from the Premier League title. They will be crowned champions tomorrow afternoon if Liverpool win at Manchester United.
90 min +2: Everyone wanders about, just waiting for the final whistle.
90 min: Like the title race, this match is very nearly over. There will be three additional minutes.
Updated
88 min: BT Sport co-commentator Glenn Hoddle names Sergio Aguero as man of the match. Aguero provides proof of a good decision by bursting into the Palace box and nearly scoring from a tight angle on the right. Guaita blocks well.
86 min: A free kick for Palace out on the right. The hosts load City’s box. Eze’s delivery is woeful, failing to beat the first man.
85 min: A little space for Zaha, released down the inside-left channel by Eze. Zaha has time to shoot, but hesitates, allowing Ake to slide in and concede a corner. The set piece is no good.
83 min: It’s Palace’s final change, Townsend making way for Ayew. The game restarts, and Sterling whips a low diagonal shot inches wide of the bottom right.
82 min: Sterling hoicks it over the bar.
81 min: Kouyate is booked for felling an in-flight Sterling. A free kick, 25 yards out.
80 min: Cancelo rolls a low diagonal pass towards Sterling in the box. Guaita reads the danger well and smothers just in time. Palace break, Milivojevic curling a shot goalwards from 25 yards. It’s an easy claim for Ederson.
78 min: Aguero buzzes down the left and finds Sterling in the box. Sterling drops a shoulder to evade Dann, but can’t get a shot away because Kouyate arrives to close him down.
76 min: Sterling and Aguero one two down the left. Aguero’s return pass is a little bit heavy, allowing Guaita to come out and smother. A better ball and that would have been three.
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74 min: City break three on three. Sterling runs down the middle and feeds Torres down the inside right. Torres enters the box but instead of shooting, rolls the ball backwards for Cancelo, rushing in at great speed. Cancelo aims a first-time curler towards the top left. It flies inches wide. What a picture that goal would have been.
72 min: Zinchenko sends a volley towards Sainsbury’s.
71 min: Schlupp sends a speculative effort goalwards. Easy for Ederson.
70 min: Laporte sends Jesus skittering down the inside-right channel. Jesus enters the box and shapes to shoot, but he’s denied by Mitchell’s sliding block. Mitchell has had a fine game.
68 min: ... and now Palace make their second, Mateta coming on for Benteke.
67 min: City make their first change, replacing Fernandinho with Zinchenko.
65 min: The corner leads to absolute bedlam in the Palace six-yard box. The ball squirts to Laporte, who attempts to fire home from close range. Benteke denies him with an outstanding block. Another corner; this one’s dealt with in a much less dramatic style.
64 min: Corner for City out left. It’s hit long for Rodri, who is denied a simple header by Ward’s last-ditch flick. Another corner coming in, this time from the right.
62 min: Having looked uncharacteristically impotent for the best part of an hour, City are now threatening with every attack. Sterling turns on the jets to make good down the inside left, then creams a low drive off the base of the left-hand post.
61 min: As things stand, City will go 13 points clear of second-placed Manchester United at the top of the Premier League. Should they hold on, and Liverpool win at Old Trafford tomorrow afternoon, City will be crowned champions.
60 min: Roy Hodgson has the huff on. So much for his defensive masterplan. Schlupp comes on for Riedewald.
GOAL! Crystal Palace 0-2 Manchester City (Torres 59)
Like the proverbial London bus ... Jesus, Torres and Sterling take turns to bundle the ball down the middle. Football’s version of a rolling maul. Torres enters a pocket of space on the edge of the box and sidefoots into the bottom left. A mere 84 seconds between the goals!
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GOAL! Crystal Palace 0-1 Manchester City (Aguero 57)
Well, this was worth waiting for! Mendy, hugging the left touchline, fires infield for Aguero, who takes a touch, strides into the box down the channel, and lashes a rising half-volley into the top left! Guaita had no chance! What a strike!
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55 min: Zaha is manhandled by Sterling, then Fernandinho. He gets the foul, but he’s furious that his opponents aren’t booked. He gives the referee some beneficial advice. He’s sailing close to a booking.
53 min: Fernandinho scoops a diagonal pass towards Torres on the right-hand corner of the Palace six-yard box. Torres chests down but doesn’t shoot, opting to dink a cross towards Jesus. Dann steps in to head over, a brilliant last-ditch intervention. Nothing occurs at the resulting corner. Brilliant defending, though you wonder why Torres didn’t shoot.
51 min: You’re not missing much.
49 min: Eze is stripped by Torres, who bombs down the middle. Milivojevic steps across him and picks up the first booking of the afternoon.
48 min: Fernandinho launches long down the middle. Sterling for a second looks like bringing the ball down and scooting clear, but Dann and Kouyate are on his case.
47 min: Changes in attitude are not immediately apparent.
City get the second half underway. No changes in personnel. Changes in attitude, perhaps?
Half-time entertainment, courtesy of Mac Millings. “For no good reason, here’s a Manchester City anagram XI. ‘Enjoy’.
- Rednose
- Jam in bendy men
- Ray Poem-Article
- Raw weekly
- Find an heron
- E.F Dolphin
- Master H. Leering
- Ray “Riz” Ahmed
- I envy nude berk
- Blue arse jigs
- Uri Goose-rage
HALF TIME: Crystal Palace 0-0 Manchester City
You’ll have seen better. Palace will be happy enough with this, City not so much. Here’s to some second-half improvements.
45 min: There will be one additional first-half minute. Sweet mercy.
44 min: Sterling dribbles into the Palace box, but there’s no room for him to fashion a shot.
43 min: A free kick for Palace out on the left, and another chance for the hosts to cause a bit of bedlam in the City box. Townsend curls it in. Sadly for Palace, he does so uselessly. Ederson claims with a yawn.
42 min: Mendy finds a yard down the left and tries to find Sterling at the near post. No. Rodri then hoicks a cross straight out for a goal kick. In the dugout, Pep looks slightly agitated.
40 min: Space now for Torres out on the right. He larrups a cross-cum-shot through the six-yard box. Nobody in City paisley is on hand to bundle home.
39 min: Palace respond through Eze, who jinks into space down the inside-left channel before whistling a low diagonal shot inches wide of the right-hand post. It’s not been much of a match so far, but things are picking up.
38 min: Mendy fires a low pass upfield for Jesus, who lays off to Aguero. The striker rolls Cancelo into space on the right, and picks up the instant return. The ball’s not quite right for Aguero, and under pressure from Mitchell, he scoops wide right from ten yards. For a second there, Palace were exposed.
36 min: So having established that, Fernandinho wedges into the box from a deep position on the right, finding Jesus in the middle, six yards out. Jesus opens his body and roofs a shot past Guaita, but the flag immediately goes up for offside. It’s the correct decision, and Palace’s clean sheet remains in tact.
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35 min: Aguero launches a couple of sorties down the left, with the assistance of Sterling. On both occasions, he’s force to turn tail. Palace are holding firm.
33 min: City haven’t had a shot on target yet. Palace have managed two. Neither goalkeeper has been seriously tested. This is hard work.
32 min: City re-establish control in the middle of the park.
30 min: The ball’s pumped high into the penalty box. Benteke wins a game of head tennis, then Riedewald attempts the spectacular from the edge of the D. Nope. Goal kick.
29 min: Nothing comes of the corner, but City only half clear and Jesus fouls, so it’s a free kick out on the left and a chance to load the City box.
28 min: ... and suddenly they spring into life, Townsend slipping the overlapping Ward into space down the right. Ward reaches the byline and cuts back for Benteke, who tries to bundle home from close range but settles instead for a corner.
27 min: Palace ping it around for a bit. They go nowhere, but that’s not really the point.
25 min: Jesus probes down the right but is eased off the ball by Mitchell, who has had a very solid game so far.
23 min: Zaha thinks he’s away down the left, but he’s pulled up for clipping Cancelo. He briefly gives the referee what for, but doesn’t push it too far.
21 min: City nearly score a very simple, but gorgeous, high-speed goal. Mendy drives down the left and fires a low cross towards Jesus, who immediately flicks the ball down the channel for Aguero. Instead of opening his body and sidefooting into the bottom right, he opts to cut back for Jesus, allowing Dann to intercept. Shame, that would have been a peach.
20 min: City stroke it around elegantly. It’s as natural as breathing in and out.
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18 min: In the dugout, Pep reacts. He holds his head in his hands, a study in despair.
17 min: Laporte rakes a long pass down the left. Sterling tears into space. He drops a shoulder to fend off Kouyate, takes a touch infield, should shoot, doesn’t shoot, eventually shoots, and allows Mitchell to pressure him into bundling the ball wide right. He should have scored.
16 min: So having said that, things stop happening. Pulitzer, please!
15 min: Benteke has a lash from distance. It flies straight down Ederson’s throat. After a slow start, things are beginning to happen.
14 min: Fernandinho robs Eze in the centre circle and City stream forward. Sterling cuts in from the left and looks to plant a spectacular one into the top right. No good. He had Torres in space on the right too. He grimaces accordingly.
13 min: City have enjoyed 75 percent of possession so far, though Guaita hasn’t had a thing to do. There’s time.
12 min: Benteke is such a strange player. He’s got it all going on, but somehow manages to find myriad ways to waste his talent.
10 min: City do nothing with the corner, and Palace break. The hosts should be leading, too, because Townsend dribbles down the right and floats a cross towards Benteke, six yards out. He’s surely got to score, but mistimes his jump, under pressure from the nearby Fernandinho, and sends a weak header wide left and high.
9 min: City finally put something together, Aguero slipping Mendy into space down the left. Mendy crosses long for Torres, whose sidefooted volley clips Mitchell and flies out for a corner.
8 min: This is very scrappy. Palace will be absolutely fine with that.
6 min: Cancelo miscontrols a simple pass, letting the ball fly out for a throw. It can happen to the best of them. There’s not a great deal happening, to be fair.
4 min: Zaha slaps his hand into Cancelo’s face and feigns affront when the ref pulls him up on it. A free kick out on the right, and a chance for City to load the Palace box. Ward clears the set piece, and takes a whack in the back from Rodri while doing so.
2 min: A nice slow start.
Palace get the ball rolling ... but only after everyone takes a knee, or a stand. There’s no room for racism. Challenge it. Report it. Change it. Kick it out.
The teams are out! Palace wear their red and blue stripes, City their third-choice squiggles, and the officials ask for a little respect. We’ll be off in a minute or two, after a quick blast of Glad All Over.
Pep talks. “We played in Paris three days ago. We travelled. Some players are exhausted, some players are fresh and with a lot of confidence, because they are all good players. The players we have today have different skills and talents so we have to adapt. We put them in positions where they feel comfortable. Palace have an experienced manager and a lot of personality. We need two games to be champions so winning today would be a good step forward, definitely.”
Positivity’s Roy Hodgson speaks to BT Sport. “I used the word trepidation in a press interview, it’s the word that most sums up one’s feelings. They’ve been so good for a long period, but this season in particular they seem to be climaxing and playing even better still. That performance the other night against PSG is about as close to perfection as you can get. So of course we’re concerned about that. But I could be sitting at home watching them play, not having a team to play against them, and Crystal Palace could be nowhere near the Premier League and dreaming of the day when they once again can play against Manchester City. So you can see things in that light and that’s the most important light for us to see it in today.”
Palace make two changes from the team named ahead of last weekend’s loss at Leicester. Patrick van Aanholt and Jordan Ayew drop to the bench, Tyrick Mitchell and Andros Townsend taking their places.
City, who are looking for their 19th consecutive away win, make eight changes to the team that won in Paris on Wednesday night. Ederson, Joao Cancelo and Rodri are the only players to keep their shirts. John Stones is suspended, while Pep Guardiola names not one, but two strikers in Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus.
The teams
Crystal Palace: Guaita, Ward, Kouyate, Dann, Mitchell, Riedewald, Milivojevic, Eze, Townsend, Benteke, Zaha.
Subs: Butland, van Aanholt, Ayew, Mateta, Schlupp, McCarthy, Batshuayi, Cahill, Kelly.
Manchester City: Ederson, Joao Cancelo, Laporte, Ake, Mendy, Torres, Rodri, Fernandinho, Sterling, Aguero, Gabriel Jesus.
Subs: Walker, Dias, Gundogan, Zinchenko, Steffen, De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Mahrez, Foden.
Referee: David Coote (Nottinghamshire).
Preamble
Manchester City have won 31 of their last 34 matches in all competitions, a run that’s seen them win the League Cup, place one foot in the Champions League final, and inch towards the Premier League title. You’d expect the required two wins to become one in a couple of hours, once they’ve played opponents seen off 4-0 at the Etihad in January.
But nobody’s perfect. While Crystal Palace have been given some frightful chasings on their own patch this season – 3-0 by Burnley, 4-1 by Chelsea, 7-0 by Liverpool – and have only picked up nine points from their last ten games, they’ve caused City more problems recently than many. A 2-2 draw at the Etihad last year, for example, and a 3-2 win there the season before that.
So Roy Hodgson will be hoping to channel some of that energy this lunchtime … and that Pep Guardiola makes a raft of changes ahead of Tuesday’s second leg of destiny against PSG. Palace gave Leicester something to think about last Monday, before eventually succumbing; can they pose the champions-elect similar problems? We find out soon! Kick off is at 12.30pm BST. It’s on!
