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Football

Manchester City

vs Crystal Palace. Premier League.

12: 30pm, Saturday 12th April 2025.

Etihad Stadium.

Report as goals from Kevin De Bruyne, Omar Marmoush, Mateo Kovacic, James Mc Atee and Nico O’Reilly help Man City shrug off early goals by Eberechi Eze and Chris Richards to beat Crystal Palace 5-2 at the Etihad Stadium and move back into the top four

Comment and Analysis

@ghostgoal

Saturday 12 April 2025 17: 31, UK Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Manchester City came from two goals down to beat Crystal Palace 5-2 at the Etihad Stadium and move into the top four. Goals from Eberechi Eze and Chris Richards put Palace two up early in the game with Eze having another ruled out for offside that would have given Oliver Glasner's side a three-goal advantage. As it was, Man City rallied well to turn the game on its head. The impressive Kevin De Bruyne scored from a free-kick to pull one back and Omar Marmoush lashed in a quickfire second soon after. Mateo Kovacic scored 77 seconds after the restart before James Mc Atee, on his first league start for City, made it four. Mc Atee’s goal came from an Ederson assist, the goalkeeper’s fourth of the Premier League season. The City goalkeeper was later forced from the field through injury. The fifth came when Nico O'Reilly, another academy graduate, saw his volley deflected in for his first Premier League goal. Glasner will be frustrated by how easy Palace, without captain Marc Guehi but previously unbeaten away in 2025, made it for City in the end. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Their charge up the table suffers a setback with this defeat, their focus perhaps turning to the FA Cup now and the enticing prospect of a possible City rematch in the final. As for Guardiola's side, this win moves them within two points of Nottingham Forest in third. Manchester City: Ederson (7), Lewis (6), Dias (6), Gvardiol (6), O’Reilly (7), Gonzalez (6), Kovacic (7), Gundogan (6), De Bruyne (8), Mc Atee (7), Marmoush (7).

Subs: Ortega (6), Savinho (n/a), Bobb (n/a), Grealish (n/a), Doku (n/a).

Crystal Palace: Henderson (6), Munoz (6), Lerma (6), Lacroix (6), Richards (6), Mitchell (6), Wharton (7), Kamada (5), Sarr (6), Eze (7), Mateta (6).

Subs: Hughes (5), Chilwell (6), Clyne (6), Franca (n/a), Devenny (n/a).

Player of the Match: Kevin De Bruyne. From a City perspective, the catalyst for the comeback was undoubtedly De Bruyne. The atmosphere was tense when he stood over that free-kick with his side two behind and team-mates nervous. With one swing of his famous right boot, the mood shifted. He was involved in the second goal and set up the third, revelling in the advanced role that he has been afforded in the absence of Erling Haaland with Marmoush happier drifting wide. At 33, he is past his peak. But City will still miss him in the big moments.

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Sky Sports News' Anton Toloui at the Etihad Stadium:

"There are only two more games at The Etihad after this for Kevin De Bruyne and the fans showed him a lot of love as he left the field.

"He was the difference-maker when City were struggling. Replacing him has to be the highest priority in the summer. " Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Pep Guardiola praised De Bruyne afterwards. "He played fantastic. " Referring to the goal, the City head coach said: "He helped us break this momentum that was not good. " Asked if the Belgian midfielder would be missed, he added: "Exceptional players are missed. The gratitude is huge. I know he can deliver and happy because he helped us a lot. He fought a lot and with the ball is so clever. He helped us a lot to win that game. " There was praise too for the contribution of Mc Atee. "He scored one goal, he could have scored four. If a player could score four it is because they have the sense. Without Erling and Phil, we need that. Today he did not deliver [the four goals] but he can. " Guardiola's general mood was of a man who likes what he is seeing from his team again, the way that they are moving the ball and the opposition around the pitch. Even without many key players due to injury, there is a sense of City's style of play being restored. "Since the Bournemouth game in the FA Cup, we are back, " he insisted, adding: "At 2-0 down it was not easy but we stick with the plan and the players played really good. We need points to qualify for the Champions League so it was massively important. " The game hinged on the moment Eze thought he had put Palace 3-0 up. The England player oozed class throughout and he finished with aplomb but will surely be frustrated to have let City off the hook because there was no great reason for him to be offside. City were wide open anyway and had he held his run it would have made little difference to the outcome. That will be Glasner's regret but Guardiola's concern. As promising as City's play was offensively, this was another alarming defensive showing from his side. It was not so long ago that Guardiola had decided that stringing four natural central defenders across the back line was the best way to achieve success but with Manuel Akanji, John Stones and Nathan Ake all out, he was relying on two young full-backs. Rico Lewis and O'Reilly have plenty of talent but were often positioned high up the pitch and the protection was just not there for Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol. Even so, the simplicity with which Richards nodded in from a corner suggests the issues run deeper. The Palace boss brought on Will Hughes at half-time, removing his top scorer Jean-Philippe Mateta. He insisted afterwards that he did not regret removing Mateta. "I think he can do better than he did first half, he lost too many duels, " said Glasner. "The mistake I made was to change the system, not to change JP. " He confirmed it was a tactical move. "It was a tactical decision but I have to say it was the wrong decision to go to 3-5-2. We wanted to control the middle. " But it backfired almost immediately. Glasner did have a tactical warning to Guardiola at the end, however, given that the two teams could yet meet in the FA Cup final at Wembley next month. "I said to Pep that if we meet again you cannot play this system because we will solve it, " he revealed. Correctly predict six scorelines for a chance to win £250, 000 for free. Entries by 3pm Saturday. Tom from Southampton became a millionaire for free with Super 6! Could you be the next jackpot winner? Play for free!

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