Manchester City 5-0 Crystal Palace: Highlights and recap
By Dan Voicescu
Manchester City beat Crystal Palace 5-0 at the Etihad on Saturday, May 6. Here are all the highlights from the match.
Manchester City dominated the opening 15 minutes of their Premier League home match against Crystal Palace about as thoroughly as a match can be dominated. The Citizens’ speed of passing and movement was simply too much for Palace.
Sam Allardyce lined his side up in 3-4-3 formation to try and counter City’s threat — though admittedly his hand was partly forced by an extensive center-back injury list — but it broke down within two minutes.
David Silva opened the scoring after playing Raheem Sterling into the space occupied by right wing-back Andros Townsend. Sterling’s cross wasn’t properly cleared by Martin Kelly in the middle, and Silva finished easily from 12 yards.
City didn’t relinquish control after taking the lead, and kept over 80 percent of the ball for the next 15 minutes. Sterling and, in particular, Leroy Sane were a constant danger down the flanks, while Gabriel Jesus’ movement caused problems down the middle, but Pep Guardiola’s side couldn’t find a second.
City maintained their dominance in the second half, but this time added the goals. Vincent Kompany rifled a shot into the top corner following a Kevin De Bruyne cutback in the 49th minute, and the home side only improved after that.
De Bruyne made it three on the hour mark, his low shot beating Wayne Hennesey a little more easily than the Palace keeper would have liked. With Palace more or less having given up, Sterling scored City’s fourth in the 82nd minute, finishing into the bottom left corner.
Nicolas Otamendi put the cherry on top of a truly dominant performance with a powerful headed finish in second half stoppage time.
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Highlights
The win takes City above Liverpool into third, at least until the Reds play on Sunday. Palace stay on 38 points, six clear of the drop. They should be safe, but Allardyce will be desperate for another win to confirm their top flight status.