Manchester City keep title chances alive with thrashing of Crystal Palace

[p]There was an early warning for the hosts when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/johnson-brennan/6XhWIWPP/"]Brennan Johnson[/a] darted in behind, squaring for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mateta-jean-philippe/nsFUj6GN/"]Jean-Philippe Mateta[/a] to fire at goal. [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/donnarumma-gianluigi/WScbdXmL/"]Gianluigi Donnarumma[/a] reacted quickly to claw the ball away, although the striker’s call for the referee to check his watch for a signal from goal-line technology might have been interesting had the flag not belatedly gone up for offside from the initial pass. [/p][p]No such flag came to the Cityzens’ rescue a little later on, and that responsibility fell to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gvardiol-josko/86K1f1fd/"]Josko Gvardiol[/a] instead, as he was in the right place to block [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/santos-yeremi/8fnHDvMe/"]Yeremy Pino[/a]’s effort behind.[/p][p]As expected, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/guardiola-pep/hxNijWrJ/"]Guardiola[/a]’s side dominated possession, but clear-cut chances proved hard to come by as the half wore on.[/p][p][b]However, that changed just beyond the half-hour mark, when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/foden-phil/E7XjDJns/"]Phil Foden[/a] suddenly quickened the pace with a clever backheel, freeing [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/semenyo-antoine/r1Gz1yPk/"]Antoine Semenyo[/a] to fire past [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/henderson-dean/OpFOJojt/"]Dean Henderson[/a].[/b][/p][p][b]That opened up the contest, and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/manchester-city/Wtn9Stg0/"]Man City[/a] added a second before half-time, with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/marmoush-omar/44pYRYIC/"]Omar Marmoush[/a] this time the beneficiary of another Foden assist. [/b][/p][p]The [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/crystal-palace/AovF1Mia/"]Eagles[/a] were hanging on by this point, and Henderson had to be at his best to stop Gvardiol making it three.[/p][image alt="Match momentum" id="f5c27f86-f033-4a54-9025-f32eec162db8" credit-line="Opta by StatsPerform" guid="310c7bbb-3192-449f-9a01-055f92d1b34c" original-width="1920" original-height="1080" /][p]It was a similar story after the break, although Man City had little need to force the issue, and Oliver Glasner was the one to summon his heavy-hitting reinforcements.[/p][p]While [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/haaland-erling/UmV9iQmE/"]Erling Haaland[/a] stayed on the home bench for the full 90 minutes, Palace introduced [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/wharton-adam/v5IYUpDm/"]Adam Wharton[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/larsen-jorgen/lQ5EYyWg/"]Jorgen Strand Larsen[/a], and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sarr-ismaila/ll2uTDkB/"]Ismaila Sarr[/a], and the latter wasted little time in testing Donnarumma.[/p][p][b]Even so, the trio could not significantly alter the pattern of the game, and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/savinho/faynRsvT/"]Savinho[/a] put the contest beyond all doubt in the 84th minute after a lovely assist from substitute [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/cherki-mathis/vm0eu2V3/"]Rayan Cherki[/a].[/b][/p][embed guid="d8bda41b-fceb-427d-b49d-8f01a48f8d15" url="https://x.com/ManCity/status/2054665670852260113" social-type="twitter" /][p]Crystal Palace now have just one win from their last seven PL games, with attention having firmly turned to the UEFA Conference League final against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/rayo-vallecano/8bcjFy6O/"]Rayo Vallecano[/a].[/p][p]Man City’s next assignment is the FA Cup final against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/chelsea/4fGZN2oK/"]Chelsea[/a], but half an eye will remain on the league, with this victory leaving them well-placed to capitalise on any slip-ups from the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/arsenal/hA1Zm19f/"]Gunners[/a] thanks to a superior goal difference.[/p][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/foden-phil/E7XjDJns/"]Phil Foden[/a] ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/manchester-city/Wtn9Stg0/"]Manchester City[/a])[/b][/p][image alt="Match stats" id="617fbe4c-1d00-45b4-b4a0-c99fe78fb15a" credit-line="Opta by StatsPerform" guid="463809ec-2d45-4e60-bd9e-f9ff98e08d8f" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/crystal-palace-AovF1Mia/manchester-city-Wtn9Stg0/?mid=xfi4Ju8N"]Click here to see all the stats of the match[/a].[/b][/p]