Manchester City continued to put pressure on Premier League leaders Arsenal, reducing their gap to two points with a tough victory over Crystal Palace on Saturday. Erling Haaland converted his 28th goal of the season from the penalty spot in the 78th minute, confirming victory for Pep’s side and also now he is the top goalscorer for Manchester City in a single season of Premier League following Olise’s late tackle on Gundogan.
For the majority of the Selhurst Park match, City were wasteful, and Erling Haaland himself might have went away with the matchball. Just on the first half-hour mark, the Norwegian forward had a wonderful chance to open the scoring but failed to convert from six yards with a goal gaping.
The visitors’ aggressive start saw Rodri’s first-time attempt throw Vicente Guaita into play and Jack Grealish dragged a low shot over after sprinting into the penalty box. Haaland, who netted his first Premier League hat-trick in the return encounter in August, came the closest in the first quarter, but couldn’t connect following Nathan Ake’s ball into the six-yard box.
The loss continues Palace’s league winless streak to ten games, the longest in the league, and puts Patrick Vieira’s team just four points above the bottom three. The victory for Pep’s Manchester City kicks off another vital week in the impending Champions League clash.
Match Report : As it happened
It only took City three minutes to begin pressing the Palace goal, with keeper Vicente Guaita forced into a brilliant 1st half save. For the first time in six weeks, John Stones headed a return back to Rodri, whose powerful effort inside the box was brilliantly parried by the Palace goalie.
Grealish then passed four Palace players on the flanks before missing Guaita’s near post miss with a poor effort after establishing a lead. Zaha air-kicking Olise’s pass at the near post ended off a hectic opening five minutes for Pep Guardiola’s side.
After that, Haaland had a shot from the outskirts of the area blocked by Marc Guehi, but his next chance around the first quarter mark was much more classical to watch. On the hour mark, Julian Alvarez turned beautifully on the outside of the box after receiving a pass from Bernardo Silva, however, he blazed his effort over the goal.
With Palace periodically putting six players from across back and utilising their attackers to block the middle, Haaland was continuously surrounded out, and Manchester City had to continuously exchange the ball as they looked for room to play and deliver the cross in between palace defenders.
City finally broke through when captain Gundogan was set to turn upside down in the area after a poor dangerous tackle by Michael Olise. Inspired in part by his long stretches without the ball, Haaland went up and slammed home the spot kick deep to the goalie’s left in the 78th minute for his 28th strike of the season and 34th overall.
With Palace unable to record a shot on goal for their third consecutive game in a row, an irrepressible Haaland proceeded to celebrate with the away supporters after the final whistle was blown at the end of 90 minutes as a difficult evening finally paid off for the City fans.
Haaland’s Statement after City’s victory?
Erling Haaland at the post-match conference with Sky Sports said, “In the end everything that matters is three points … it’s not easy … you saw Bournemouth today beating Liverpool … every single game is a fight … we win and I’m really happy … it’s my job and I enjoy it … we have to keep going …
He further said, “I was not concerned … I tried to focus on my game … it’s not easy so I’m really proud … we have to win games … we have to focus on myself … we have a lot of games left to play still … nothing is decided yet … this is England, this is what I’ve been watching my whole life, and it’s good to be in the middle of it!”
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