Palace hold wasteful Man City in draw

Palace hold wasteful Man City in draw

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Aymeric Laporte had a brilliant chance to open the scoring in the first half
Aymeric Laporte had a brilliant chance to open the scoring in the first half

Manchester City missed their chance to go six points clear at the top of the Premier League as they were held by a resilient Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.

City dominated proceedings, twice hitting the woodwork, while defender Aymeric Laporte failed to find the net with the goal at his mercy in the first half.

The result means Liverpool can cut City’s lead to one point by beating Arsenal on Wednesday.

In front of a boisterous crowd, Palace frustrated their opponents although they created little themselves going forward.

A point keeps them 11th as they boosted their own hopes of a top-half finish.

A good night for fans of Palace – and Liverpool

Eight weeks ago, Manchester City’s lead at the top of the Premier League was 13 points – although Liverpool, in third at the time, had two games in hand. After this draw in south London, the gap is now four points.

Liverpool have one game in hand over their rivals, with the pair still to play each other at Etihad Stadium in April.

Pep Guardiola’s side were motivated from the off against Palace, with Joao Cancelo striking the post from range after 30 minutes and Laporte firing the rebound off target with the goal at his mercy.

Captain Kevin de Bruyne struck the base of the post midway through the second half, while Riyad Mahrez forced Palace keeper Vicente Guaita into a fine one-handed save on the follow-up.

And Bernardo Silva also failed to convert a fruitful opening late on, poking Jack Grealish’s pass across goal narrowly wide on an off-night for City’s forwards.

It was just the second time City have failed to score in the league this season – the first since they lost 2-0 to Palace in the reverse fixture in October.

The champions, who came in to this match having won 16 of their past 18 games, were made to rue their missed chances, and their players cut frustrated figures at the full-time whistle.

More to follow.

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Crystal Palace

  1. Squad number13Player nameGuaita

  2. Squad number17Player nameClyne

  3. Squad number16Player nameAndersen

  4. Squad number6Player nameGuéhi

  5. Squad number3Player nameMitchell

  6. Squad number8Player nameKouyaté

  7. Squad number15Player nameSchlupp

  8. Squad number7Player nameOlise

  9. Squad number23Player nameGallagher

  10. Squad number11Player nameZaha

  11. Squad number14Player nameMateta

  1. Squad number9Player nameJ Ayew

  2. Squad number22Player nameÉdouard

Manchester City

    No players have been substituted yet

Line-ups

Crystal Palace

Formation 4-2-3-1

  • 13Guaita
  • 17Clyne
  • 16Andersen
  • 6Guéhi
  • 3Mitchell
  • 8KouyatéBooked at 44mins
  • 15Schlupp
  • 7OliseSubstituted forJ Ayewat 65′minutes
  • 23GallagherBooked at 83mins
  • 11Zaha
  • 14MatetaSubstituted forÉdouardat 65′minutesBooked at 90mins

Substitutes

  • 1Butland
  • 2Ward
  • 5Tomkins
  • 9J Ayew
  • 10Eze
  • 19Matthews
  • 20Benteke
  • 22Édouard
  • 44Riedewald

Man City

Formation 4-3-3

  • 31Ederson
  • 2Walker
  • 5Stones
  • 14Laporte
  • 27Cancelo
  • 17De Bruyne
  • 16Rodri
  • 20Bernardo Silva
  • 26Mahrez
  • 47Foden
  • 10GrealishBooked at 54mins

Substitutes

  • 6Aké
  • 7Sterling
  • 8Gündogan
  • 9Gabriel Jesus
  • 11Zinchenko
  • 13Steffen
  • 25Fernandinho
  • 33Carson
  • 79Mbete

Referee:
Martin Atkinson

Attendance:
25,309

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