Manchester City held at home by Crystal Palace

• Manchester City’s struggles in the Premier League continued on Saturday as they were held to a 2-2 draw by Crystal Palace at Etihad Stadium
• This is the fourth time in six Premier League matches that Pep Guardiola’s side have surrendered a lead towards the end of a match

Manchester City’s struggles in the Premier League continued on Saturday as they were held to a 2-2 draw by Crystal Palace at Etihad Stadium. The defending champions led 2-0 with 14 minutes left to play before Palace fought their way back into the match to complete an unlikely comeback.

Jack Grealish opened the scoring for the Cytizens midway through the opening period before Rico Lewis scored his first Premier League goal after the restart. When it seemed as though City were cruising to victory at home, Jean-Philippe Mateta pulled a goal back for Palace in the 76th minute.

Manchester City threw away a two-goal lead at Etihad Stadium. Photo/ Marca.com.

There was drama in stoppage time as Phil Foden caught Mateta in the box while attempting to clear and the match’s referee Paul Tierney pointed to the spot. Michael Olise made no mistake as he stepped up from 12 yards to send Ederson the wrong way.

Manchester City, who played without Erling Haaland due to injury, are yet to win a league match at home since November 4. The draw against Palace was their third consecutive at Etihad and it leaves them in fourth place in the Premier League standings. This is the first time that City have gone without a win at home since 2016.

Speaking after the 2-2 draw against Palace, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola insisted that his side cannot blame bad luck for dropping points.

“It’s not bad luck, it’s deserved. We gave away two points but if you give away a penalty, you deserve it. Just like in the games against Tottenham [which ended 3-3] and Liverpool [when City drew 1-1], we were excellent. But, again we are not able to win. You saw the chances we created [compared] to the chances we conceded and apart from the Chelsea game [that ended 4-4] it was quite similar to the rest of the season – but we are not able to close the game.” BBC Sports quotes Guardiola. 

The Cytizens who are currently three points behind leaders Liverpool are now heading off to Saudi Arabia for next week’s FIFA Club World Cup. They could find themselves 12 points off the top of the Premier League table by the time they return to Premier League action towards the end of the year.

Meanwhile, Crystal Palace have only won one of their last ten games and are currently 15th on the standings with 17 points.

How The Game Unfolded 

Manchester City started the game well and would have taken the lead earlier on if not for Dean Henderson‘s brilliant save to deny Julian Alvarez. Well, it didn’t take long before the hosts were on the scoresheet, thanks to Jack Grealish goal.

The English forward was picked out by his international teammate Phil Foden and he made no mistake as he slotted the ball into the bottom corner. Josko Gvardiol had an open chance to increase the hosts lead after being released by Ruben Dias but he was denied by Henderson.

Crystal Palace, who had been dominated for the majority of the first half, nearly found their way back into the match when Jack-Philippe Mateta broke through City’s defence. However, he was brought down by Ederson, who received a yellow card for the offense.

Manchester City continued with their dominance after their restart and had their lead doubled in the 54th minute, thanks to Rico Lewis. With a two-goal lead, it looked as though City were on course to victory. However, things began falling apart in the 76th minute when Mateta turned home Jeffrey Schlupp’s cross from close range.

The Frenchman was then caught in the box by Foden in stoppage time, leading to penalty. With seconds remaining, Michael Olise stepped up and sent Ederson the wrong way to secure his side an important draw at Etihad Stadium.

Crystal Palace came from two goals down to steal point from City. Photo/ Sky Sports.

This is the fourth time in six Premier League matches that Pep Guardiola’s side have surrendered a lead towards the end of a match. Those goals have cost them eight points, which means they could be on top of the table now.