Erling Haaland scored the only goal of the game as Manchester City defeated Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park to move to within two points of the league leaders Arsenal.
Pep Guardiola’s men, who have always seemingly struggled on trips to Eagels’ ground, once again had to wait until the 78th minute to score the goal from the penalty spot after once again looking far from their best.
The start of the game belies the scoreline as Rodri and Jack Grealish went close for City in the opening exchanges but Crystal Palace held firm after packing their box with defenders.
Halaand himself failed to capitalise on a couple of chances in the first half.
City almost went ahead immediately after the break in play but Vicente Guaita expertly saved Phil Foden’s goal-bound freekick.
With time running out, Michael Olise provided City with some respite when he fouled Ilkay Gundogan inside the penalty area. Haaland then sent Guaita the wrong way for his 28th league goal of the season to close in Mohamed Salah’s record of 34 strikes.
City now sits second in the league table with 61 points from 27 games with Arsenal in action against Fulham tonight.
Meanwhile, earlier before City’s match, Chelsea continued their recovery dash with a 3-1 win over Leicester City, Tottenham defeated Nottingham Forest 3-1, Everton surprised Brentford 1-0, Leeds United and Brighton played out a 2-2 draw and Liverpool came back down to earth with a 1-0 loss to Bournemouth after beating United by a record margin in their previous game.
