You could see why oligarchs, despots and governments want to buy into the Premier League at Selhurst Park. The game between Crystal Palace and Manchester City might have ended goal-less but it pulsated with action. It may have blown the race for the Premier League wide open, too.
If Liverpool beat Arsenal at the Emirates on Wednesday, Jurgen Klopp’s team will be just a point behind their Mancunian rivals and the teams meet at the Etihad next month. Palace prised one of City’s hands off the trophy in a dogged display where they not only ground out the draw but looked to exploit City’s weaknesses
Pep Guardiola loves to play a high defensive line. If his defenders push up to halfway line – or even beyond it – they squeeze the pitch and ensure the game is played in tight areas where his skilful attackers thrive and his team can employ a high press.
Against Palace, City executed their tactics perfectly. Yet Patrick Vieira’s team look like they are built to frustrate the champions. The home side rode their luck and had a number of chances to punish the visitors’ insistence on throwing men forward. They have now taken three points off City this season.
City started with a fluid lyricism that is beguiling. Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva exchanged passes that left Palace bemused in the early exchanges. Jack Grealish ran with purpose and drew a posse of hyperventilating defenders towards him as he entered the area. Riyad Mahrez ambled across the edge of the box and flashed a shot wide. City test a team’s physical and mental stamina.
Their own concentration is questionable, however, and Palace knew it. They counter-pressed and it disturbed Guardiola’s men. Aymeric Laporte, who was sent off in Palace’s 2-0 victory at the Etihad in October, dawdled on the ball and allowed Conor Gallagher to steal possession and head for goal. Gallagher decided he could not outpace Laporte and instead tried to pick out Wilfried Zaha with a ball that was poorly executed.
Laporte was not the only City player to switch off. Kyle Walker made an error and Jean-Philippe Mateta drove towards goal and picked out Michael Olise but the midfielder shot wide. Mateta was proving a handful down the left and he again linked with Olise, who struggled to get the ball out from under his feet and tried to return the pass. Mateta was in his element in the first half, performing a series of dancing stepovers as City backed away before fluffing a shot wide.
Teams that can break quickly cause problems for Guardiola’s side but the risk-reward element of City’s game always promises goals. A shot from distance by Kevin De Bruyne showed how quickly things can turn. Vicente Guaita could not hold it and Silva was on to the rebound in a flash. His touch was off, though, and he ran the ball over the byline. The Belgian then went close with a marvellous piece of skill. A Joao Cancelo pass dropped over his shoulder and, against expectations, De Bruyne hooked the ball towards goal from close range and it took a fine save from Guaita to tip over the bar.
With City’s defenders advancing into positions normally occupied by midfielders and Palace dropping deep to flood the areas where Grealish and Foden like to roam, the attempts on goal came from unlikely sources. Stones shot just wide and Cancelo powered an effort against the post. The game bubbled along with the visiting side putting Guaita’s goal under siege and Palace looking to break. Both teams were living on the edge but City were racking up the chances. Mahrez clipped another shot over the bar just before the half-time whistle.
Palace turned the City backline around with regularity but Guardiola’s team rarely lie dormant. Grealish, in the inside left channel, slipped the ball to De Bruyne, whose shot rolled tantalisingly across goal and hit the far past. Mahrez struck the rebound well but Guaita tipped over the bar again. The flag was up for offside but it felt like a warning for Palace. Now they retreated into a defensive shell.
All that did was let City in. The last quarter of the game brought relentless pressure. Grealish reached the byline and fizzed in a cross that Silva, stretching desperately, put wide from inside the six-yard box.
Where Mateta was Palace’s hero in the first half, the focus turned to the other end. Joachim Andersen and Marc Guehi were mighty. Cheikhou Kouyate put his body on the line. In stoppage time Laporte headed wide, giving Vieria’s side a final scare. Against expectations, Palace, showing a last spark of aggression, bounded upfield and Gallagher shot over from an awkward angle. They had the best chances in stoppage time and Gallagher got into a similar position in the closing moments but could not find a man with his cross.
The home side held on. It may be going too far to say that Vieira and Palace have City’s number but the south London club have taken three vital points from Guardiola’s team. The chances of the Premier League trophy staying in Manchester got smaller at Selhurst.
