Palace 0 Man City 1

Summary:

• Milivojevic and Schlupp come into starting XI for Eze and the suspended Doucouré
• Rodri volley forces Guaita into an early save
• Grealish checks inside but fires wide for the visitors
• Zaha miscues inside box as both teams enjoy early chances in SE25
• City dominate possession but Palace threaten on the counter
• Haaland blazes clear chance over from six yards
• Palace go direct as Zaha effort deflects narrowly wide
• Visitors apply pressure but Palace hold firm
• HT: Palace 0-0 Manchester City
• City start second-half brightly as Guaita beats away Gundogan free-kick
• Alvarez turns sharply and shoots over when well-placed
• City increase the pressure but Palace defend set-pieces well
• Visitors take the lead with quarter-of-an-hour remaining as Haaland converts penalty kick
• Norwegian fires wide from one-on-one with Guaita moments later
• Haaland heads over from close range as Palace commit bodies forward
• Hosts apply surge of pressure but cannot find late equaliser
• FT: Palace 0-1 Manchester City

Erling Haaland's late penalty-kick saw Crystal Palace lose out to Manchester City despite a battling display at Selhurst Park.

Heading into a period in which Palace were set to face the Premier League’s top two sides – plus Brighton & Hove Albion away – in the space of eight days, Patrick Vieira had called for his players to deliver a display against City of two ingredients: togetherness, and fearlessness.

They provided both, but in the end, it sadly did not prove enough.

With Luka Milivojevic starting in midfield in place of the suspended Cheick Doucouré, fear was never likely to be on the agenda, with the club captain and Jeffrey Schlupp returning to the starting XI as Palace’s two changes.

Nevertheless, Pep Guardiola’s City side remained the Premier League's top scorers this season by some margin, and set about their task at Selhurst with plenty of early attacking intent.

Indeed, Palace were grateful for the sharp reflexes of Vicente Guaita inside the opening few minutes, the Spaniard reacting quickly to beat away Rodri’s fierce volleyed effort following a half-cleared free-kick.

Jack Grealish was next to come close for the visitors, jinking inside the Palace defence and firing a low shot wide of the near post; Guaita again, however, had it covered.

With the visitors beginning to dominate possession, Palace were by no means passive offensively themselves, and could have gone ahead moments later when Nathaniel Clyne’s low ball into the box wouldn’t quite sit properly for Wilfried Zaha to connect from six yards.

With Schlupp and Michael Olise tucking inside for extra protection, and all 10 outfield players covering plenty of grass, City were probing consistently, but finding it difficult to create clear chances.

They should, however, have taken the lead after 26 minutes. With 27 goals in 25 Premier League appearances prior to the match, Erling Haaland seemed all-but-guaranteed to sweep home after being found six yards out by Nathan Aké, but the forward got his finish horribly wrong under pressure from Marc Guéhi.

The remainder of the first-half saw the same pattern apply; City dominated possession, with Palace continuing to look dangerous on the counter. Zaha came closest for the home side when his curling effort deflected narrowly wide of the far post.

When the players re-emerged after half-time, Palace once again showed their mettle against a high-flying team, their resilience and work-rate coming to the fore as they looked to deny the visitors any clear openings.

Yet when City can bring on the likes of World Cup winner Julian Alvarez off the bench, that is always likely to be a tall order, with the Argentine shortly after spinning intelligently on the edge of the box – but smashing a rising effort well clear of the bar when he perhaps should have scored.

No team have had a better defensive record from set-pieces in the Premier League this season than Palace, and that statistic was tested further in the second-half as City continued to deliver a barrage of crosses into the box.

Joachim Andersen in particular made a number of headed clearances under pressure, and Guaita saved stinging drives from distance from Alvarez and Ilkay Gundogan.

But as the game ticked into its final quarter-of-an-hour, City’s sustained attacks eventually led to the break-through; Olise was judged to have fouled Gundogan on the follow-through, and up stepped Haaland to send Guaita the wrong way from 12 yards and set the visitors on course for victory.

Palace poured bodies forwards in search of an equaliser, giving Haaland two further clear chances – firing wide when one-on-one, before heading over from a central position – but the margin remained just one goal.

Unfortunately, while second-half substitute Eze did see one shot deflect wide and Zaha's late pull-back narrowly evaded Edouard six yards from goal, Palace's one big moment in front of goal did not arrive - the home team frustrated once more, without reward for their showing of fight.

Palace: Guaita (GK), Clyne (Ward 71), Andersen, Guéhi, Mitchell, Milivojevic (Ahamada, 61), Lokonga, Ayew (Eze 70), Olise, Schlupp (Edouard, 70), Zaha

Subs: Whitworth (GK), Tomkins, Richards , Riedewald, Mateta

Manchester City: Ederson (GK), Dias, Stones (Walker 89), Aké, Akanji, Gundogan, Rodri, Silva (De Byurne 79), Foden (Alvarez, 58), Grealish, Haaland

Subs: Ortega (GK), Lewis, Phillips, Laporte, Mahrez, Palmer