Manchester City continue to move.
Pep Guardiola's side may have produced the sort of performance that made the BBC breathe a little easier about cramming all of today's highlights into 20 minutes, but they won't care and they probably shouldn't. At a difficult ground against a good team that set out to make things difficult for them, the Premier League champions ensured that their road to another title is no trickier now after a tight 1-0 victory.
It is no secret that Selhurst Park is seen as one of the toughest places to come, and in recent years it has served as a serious test of title challengers. Edin Dzeko and Yaya Toure passed with flying colours in 2014, shortly before Brendan Rodgers and Liverpool flew far too close to the sun; Palace ended the longest winning streak in Premier League history when Guardiola's would-be Centurions arrived in the 2017/18 season but were unable to stop a crucial win for the Blues a year later when they pipped Liverpool to the title.
Also read: Man City player ratings vs Palace
For all the struggles of Patrick Vieira's team recently, they have drawn their last four home games. After pointing out that they were the only team to stop City from scoring last season home and away, captain Luka Milivojevic made the gameplan clear in his programme notes: "We know that we can make it hard for Man City to play their usual game, and that is exactly what we will try to do this afternoon."
The home team had Vicente Guaita to thank for keeping City out in the opening minutes as the keeper reacted well to parry away when Rodri lashed the ball at goal following a corner. Jack Grealish then did the hard work to force an opening, working his way in from the left wing, only to scuff his shot and fail to test the stopper at all.
After that it became more difficult for City to find space, and in their frustration Palace pounced. Phil Foden twice gave the ball away in needless positions, while Manu Akanji was also culpable.
For all the defensive security it gave them, the Blues looked like they were attacking with four centre-backs precisely because they were. John Stones has many qualities, although seeing him with his back to goal in the No.10 position does not scream that the champions are at their most fluid.
When the ball did break to the right man, he was found badly wanting. Bernardo Silva produced a cheeky nutmeg to find Nathan Ake in the box and he slid it across for Erling Haaland, only for the No.9 to clip his shot horribly over the bar from eight yards out.
As time went by, the game threatened to turn into one of those frustrating City performances where the dominance in possession doesn't translate into serious testing of the opposition goal but instead meanders into 90 minutes of nothingness. That suited Palace down to the ground, the home team happy to take as much time out of the game as necessary to break up the rhythm of the visitors.
If it did seem as though there was plenty for Guardiola to like in the performance - limiting a good side and pacy attack to no chances of note while creating at least some good openings themselves - the manager saw enough to make a change before the hour mark. Foden could consider himself unlucky to come off in the sense he had looked the liveliest attacker and forced an excellent save from Guaita at a free-kick, yet bringing on Julian Alvarez was an attempt to see more of the ball around the Palace goal.
It almost worked instantly, with the Argentine producing a world-class turn on the edge of the box to drag it inside the area only to follow it up with a Sunday League finish. City were going to have to work even harder in the rain for the breakthrough.
Then it happened. After 75 minutes of executing their gameplan better than City had theirs, Palace fell asleep at a corner and Michael Olise clipped Gundogan in the penalty area; Haaland slammed home league goal No.28 and ran straight to the raucous away support with a great big grin on his face.
City may not have been at their best, but they had been good enough to get the breakthrough and the celebrations showed they knew how important the three points were. The bearhugs for every player from Dias at the end of the game and the guttural roars and double fist-pumps from Haaland - there was also a cupped ear for some Palace fans - at the end of the game reinforced that.
If it wasn't as free-flowing as we have seen in recent weeks, sometimes - and particularly at a ground such as this that can prove a graveyard for title challenges - doing enough to win is all you need.
Guardiola's side are, once again, within two points of Arsenal at the top of the team. Mikel Arteta's side must go to Fulham on Sunday after their 2-2 draw at Sporting on Thursday and the pressure is back on them to give themselves breathing space at the top of the division.
It is now six wins and two draws in eight games since losing to Tottenham at the beginning of February. That is real momentum and if it is a shame that the Blues will not play again in the Premier League until April they can now continue their mood by ensuring qualification in the Champions League and FA Cup over the next week.
City have rebuilt their title challenge, and their strength is starting to look ominous for the rest again.
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