We cannot say nobody warned us. Pep Guardiola had claimed earlier this month that Manchester City were enjoying a “fake lead” at the top; the reality now is that their cushion will be cut to a single point if Liverpool win at Arsenal on Wednesday and, while that is far from a sure thing, a title race might just have broken out.
It is game on and, should City blow it, they may look back on this as the occasion things turned. They had a rare off night against an intelligent, punchy Crystal Palace and only created chances consistently during a purple patch in the first half. Blinking at this particular point could cost them, but anyone wanting a genuine contest over the season’s remainder will now feel enriched.
Patrick Vieira, serenaded lustily from the stands long after full-time, may come to have played a deciding role in his former club’s season. City had only dropped five points since Palace beat them at the Etihad in October; this time their opponents had few chances to score, enjoying flurries that could have wrought more severe damage with more composure on the break, but their endeavours were another gift to Jürgen Klopp.
Palace ran themselves into the ground, the effervescent Conor Gallagher still managing to find two threatening positions in added time before half-joking afterwards that he could not feel his legs. As the minutes ticked down there was never a strong sense City, for all their propensity to find something, would pick the lock and the hosts’ focus in seeing the result out was exceptional.
It was the snappy Gallagher who epitomised Palace’s pressing from his attacking midfield role; 10 minutes in he dispossessed Aymeric Laporte and broke into space but overhit his pass left to an open Wilfried Zaha in an example of the counters they could not quite turn into clear opportunities. Zaha forced Kyle Walker into an error that allowed Jean-Philippe Mateta to feed Michael Olise, whose cross-shot with the outside of his left foot bent beyond the far post. Mateta saw a shimmying run to the byline thwarted and another break, assisted by dizzying skill from Olise, curtailed when he slipped.
City’s only genuine chance by that point had come from a Palace mistake: the otherwise commanding Vicente Guaita was fortunate, after spilling Kevin De Bruyne’s meaty but seemingly straightforward drive, to see Bernardo Silva take too heavy a touch as he attempted to guide the loose ball past him.
Guaita was more convincing when, following a signature chop inside and shot from Riyad Mahrez, he gathered comfortably. In the 26th minute his reactions were tested when De Bruyne stuck out a foot, attempting to guide João Cancelo’s perceptive pass over him. An outstretched hand flipped the ball over at close quarters but City, having rocked earlier, were beginning to gain ground.
They were within an upright’s width of making it count when Cancelo, taking aim from 25 yards after a corner had been worked out to him, crashed a fierce strike against Guaita’s right post. A more delicate connection from Laporte would have sent the rebound into the vacant goal but, as the ball sat up at pace, he skied over to jeers. It was still an excellent chance and Mahrez was next to receive a presentable glimpse, seeing Jack Grealish’s cutback reach him in the kind of position he relishes but shooting straight at Guaita.
A City opener was beginning to look inevitable. Palace were listing but regained some stability before the interval, seeing Zaha shoot wide and Joachim Andersen send a teasing delivery beyond lurking teammates. Mahrez shot fractionally beyond the angle but Klopp, presumably watching with keen interest, had cause for genuine optimism.
It was borne out after a second half in which City, for their near-constant possession, only found one gilt-edged chance. That came as the game entered its final 20 minutes, Grealish centring and appearing to lay the opener on a plate for a lunging Silva. Perhaps he was put off by Guaita’s proximity and outstretched right hand; either way Silva could not make enough purchase and the ball squirted off target. Before that a marginally offside De Bruyne had struck the far post from an angle, his infraction meaning Guaita’s stupendous save from Mahrez’s blasted rebound proved immaterial.
Palace had re-emerged with the same vim they showed early on. Six minutes after the interval, following a spell of pressure, Cheikhou Kouyaté glanced wide from in front of goal after Marc Guéhi’s header had given him the chance. Mateta, behind his right shoulder, might have been better positioned to score. Regardless, Kouyaté was outstanding all night and almost laid on a late chance for the substitute Odsonne Édouard, who could not quite get a clean shot away. Kouyaté and his teammates held on with what, to the naked eye, was relative ease; their aching limbs told a different story but Liverpool will be thanking them profusely.
