Erling Haaland’s late penalty gave Manchester City a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.
Palace are now unbeaten in their last 11 games, but Patrick Vieira’s side have kept City at bay for a long time despite not scoring on target themselves.
Pep Guardiola left Kevin De Bruyne and Kyle Walker on the bench and was about to take the Belgium international off with time running out before his side converted a penalty in the 78th minute, which Haaland converted.
A third successive Premier League win brings City two points closer to leaders Arsenal, who are visiting Fulham on Sunday.
COMPLETE WORK | points
0-1 #mancity pic.twitter.com/rpbjHRX1lw
— Manchester City (@ManCity) March 11, 2023
City made their intentions clear when Rodri forced Vicente Guaita to make a volley save and Jack Grealish converted a good shot wide of the near post within the first four minutes.
Palace came into play more in the first half, but relied on Haaland’s uncharacteristic miss when the Premier League’s top scorer came off the bar with a presentable effort from Nathan Ake.
Guaita saved Phil Foden’s free-kick well 11 minutes into the second half, and substitute Julian Alvarez, who replaced Foden moments later, turned beautifully and struck.
Palace looked set to last for a fifth consecutive home draw before Michael Olize converted a penalty, fouling Ilkay Gündoğan from a short corner, allowing Haaland to send Guaita the wrong way off the spot and score his 28th league goal. campaign.
The Norwegian had another chance with seven minutes left when he left after a cross from Grealish, but City held on to put further pressure on Arsenal in the title race.
What does it mean? City keep Arsenal honest
It’s been a tough game for Guardiola’s men, but they’ve now earned 13 points out of 15 from a loss to Tottenham last month, ensuring Arsenal stay fair at the top of the table in front of what looks to be a tough one for the Gunners. on Sunday.
Palace have not won at home since October, although all of their previous four home matches have ended in draws, including clashes with Manchester United, Newcastle United and Liverpool.
Although Vieira’s side are playing well, they will need to start winning games soon before they are sucked into a relegation battle, with their stock now down to four points.
City again ready to take on the challenge in the second half
City have struggled with Palace in recent meetings and had to go 2-0 at half-time earlier this season to win at the Etihad Stadium.
Each of City’s last 10 goals against Palace in the Premier League came in the second half of games, and they have failed to score against the Eagles in the first 45 minutes in each of their last five meetings.
Shy palace punished
While it was an overall impressive performance for Palace, they earned an undesirable record in the Premier League.
Their failure to record a shot on target saw them go three top division games without it, making them the first team since Opta started tracking that data (since 2003-04) that hasn’t done so in so long. no one. In addition, there will be five games this season, the most in the league.
Opta key features:
– Manchester City have the longest active unbeaten streak in the Premier League (six games).
– No Premier League player has scored more penalties this season than Manchester City’s Haaland (5, tied with Ivan Toni). Only Yaya Toure has scored more from penalties in one season for City (six in 2013-14).
– City haven’t scored in each of their last four Premier League away games against Crystal Palace – they’ve had a longer streak of away strikes with no side (also four against Arsenal, Leicester and Sheff United”).
– Haaland scored his 10th away goal in the Premier League this season. He also scored 18 goals at home and became the second City player to reach double figures both at home and away in the same campaign, after Sergio Aguero in 2014/15 (13 at home, 13 away).
What’s next?
Palace will travel to rivals Brighton and Hove Albion in the Premier League on Wednesday, while Manchester City will host RB Leipzig on Tuesday in the second leg of the Champions League round of 16, drawn 1-1.