City maintain title challenge after beating Palace

Manchester City 3 - 0 Crystal Palace

Manchester City comfortably beat Crystal Palace to move back within two points of Premier League leaders Arsenal.

Author | Macca

Stadium | Etihad Stadium

The win ensures the title race will go down to the final week of the season.

Pep Guardiola knew anything other than victory on Wednesday would have given the Gunners the chance to seal the title against Burnley on Monday, but the battle for the trophy still appears destined to go to the wire.

With Saturday’s FA Cup final against Chelsea looming, Guardiola took a calculated risk with his team selection, making six changes and leaving out attacking trio Erling Haaland, Rayan Cherki and the in-form Jeremy Doku.

Phil Foden was key

The changes appeared to disrupt City’s rhythm early on, with the hosts initially lacking fluency before Phil Foden injected life into the contest.

The England midfielder produced a clever backheel to send Antoine Semenyo through on goal, and the forward finished clinically beyond Dean Henderson. Omar Marmoush then doubled the advantage after spinning away and finishing smartly from another Foden pass.

Palace’s clearest opening came moments after the first goal when Tyrick Mitchell unleashed a powerful effort that was turned away by Gianluigi Donnarumma, but Savinho added a late third to complete an impressive win for City.