Crystal Palace 2 Man City 2: Rico Lewis scores and then sees red as Man City lose yet more ground on Liverpool
PEP GUARDIOLA cannot get a break. Even when he gets a break.
Yet as Manchester City’s Prem misery deepened at Selhurst Park, the sense that even the Catalan magician knows the title is a lost cause was hard to shift.
In normal circumstances, finding a way to battle back on terms twice and dominating long periods would have been a sign of City slowly starting to find their feet.
But these are not normal circumstances.
Not when City have lost four of the previous five league matches to have been blown off title pace before they walked into the teeth of Storm Darragh.
And dropping more points, as well as seeing Rico Lewis sent off for two cautions in the space of a quarter of an hour when they should have been pushing for the winner, added to City’s winter woes.
There is something wrong with City. Badly wrong.
Everyone can see it. Everyone HAS seen it.
Yes, at times they can briefly recapture that swagger and poise, can appear on the cusp of regaining their confidence.
But it only takes the next mistake to rip that veneer of self-belief away and display the gaping vulnerabilities.
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Mistakes that continue to emerge under pressure, that allowed Daniel Munoz and then Maxence Lacroix to twice put Palace ahead.
In the end, after terrific replies from first Erling Halaand and then, before his dismissal, Lewis, those moments were not enough to earn Palace their first home win over City since 2015 – before Guardiola took the Etihad helm.
There are reasons, of course. The City missing list is seemingly limitless – and growing with every passing week.
Guardiola, already without John Stones, Nathan Ake, Mateo Kovacic and long-term absentees Rodri and Oscar Bobb, travelled down to the capital without both bronchitis victim Phil Foden and Manuel Akanji.
But there cannot be ANY excuses for a team with City’s financial resources.
Injuries are simply part of football and it has been Guardiola’s choice to drop Ederson and play Stefan Ortega in goal.
What was an additional factor, though, were the conditions, teeming rain and the threat of 50mph-plus winds.
Not that the conditions were responsible for the opener, inside four minutes.
Jean-Philippe Mateta span off the lazy Josko Gvardiol to play a return to Will Hughes.
The midfielder spotted that Lewis had switched off, allowing Daniel Munoz – played onside by Ruben Dias – to run in on goal.
Munoz obliged, his drive flicking the inside of Ortega’s glove on its way to the net.
Appeals for a VAR reprieve, led by Dias, correctly fell on deaf ears at Stockley Park.
Initially, it looked darker for City as Haaland, of all people, wasted two chances to put them back on terms.
The first was just three minutes later, when Kevin de Bruyne played perfectly in behind the Palace backline.
You would have put your house on Haaland. Instead, he smashed into the face of the onrushing Dean Henderson.
Then Haaland shrugged aside Maxence Lacroix to find de Bruyne but overran the return pass, allowing the home defence to hack clear.
Ismaila Sarr spooned over from the edge of the box fro Palace before Henderson’s left-hand upright denied Ilkay Gundogan’s volley, with Savinho frustrated as he steered the rebound wide of the other post.
But after a brilliant block by Dias prevented Jefferson Lerma making it two after Munoz shrugged off Lewis’ attentions and linked up with Sarr and Mateta, City did equalise.
Nunes flung in a ball to the back post where Haaland rose as high as a skyscraper, out-jumping both Henderson and Marc Guehi – back wearing the regular armband after the week’s rainbow furore – and raising his left arm as his header floated into the far corner.
Instead of waiting to be congratulated, Haaland urged his team-mates to join him for an impromptu huddle inside the PALACE box before they returned to their own half.
Lacroix just prevented De Bruyne’s low cross finding Haaland in front of goal before the interval.
City were starting to play, Palace forced deep. Only for Guardiola’s men to cause themselves more damage.
Hughes, gifted the ball 30 out, saw his shot deflected behind but jogged over to take the right-wing corner.
It looked a routine, middle of the six yard box inswinger.
But Ortega was stuck like a statue, Walker got caught underneath the ball, and Lacroix cashed in, thumping home an unstoppable header from close range.
Another defeat would have been true crisis.
Instead, Palace were unpicked after a drop ball, quick passes between Gundogan, de Bruyne and finally Bernardo Silva creating the opening for Lewis, running through the channel, to lash high right-footed past the stranded Henderson.
No celebrations for this goal either – City knew a point was not enough.
Henderson clawed away a deflected Savinho effort, Haaland’s header was touched over the bar and you expected the storm to overwhelm Palace.
But Lewis, booked for dissent soon after his goal, slid in to send Chalobah flying inside the Palace box, a needless foul that sent them down to 10.
If anyone was going to win it after that, it was Palace. Which tells you all you need to know.
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