Manchester City 2 Crystal Palace 2: City player ratings as City’s weakened side leaves London with a point

Manchester City 2 (Erling Haaland 30′, Rico Lewis 68′)

Crystal Palace 2 (Daniel Muñoz 4′, Maxence Lacroix 55′)

Here are the City player ratings as Manchester City drew 2-1 with Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. The game was action-packed and the talking points started before the game even started. Manuel Akanji was not named in City’s squad after suffering an injury against Nottingham Forest. That was a blow for Pep Guardiola’s team.

First half

Crystal Palace started the game with energy and took the lead in the fourth minute through Daniel Muñoz. A superb ball from Will Hughes split the City defense and Muñoz did the rest. Kyle Walker played alongside Muñoz in the build-up to what was the worst start ever for Pep Guardiola’s side.

Three minutes later, Manchester City should have equalized. A beautiful ball from Kevin De Bruyne played to Erling Haaland but his shot was well parried by Dean Henderson in the Palace goal.

From then on, Crystal Palace were the livelier of the two teams. However, apart from a corner from Ismaila Sarr that went miles over the crossbar in the 19th minute, there were no significant chances. But the early goal gave the hosts a boost.

In the 22nd minute, Ilkay Gündogan hit the post with a successful volley. After the ensuing rebound, Savinho curled a shot past the post from a good position.

In the 28th minute, Rico Lewis was placed in a dangerous area of ​​the pitch and Jean-Philippe Mateta set up Jefferson Lerma well. But his shot was well blocked by Ruben Dias in the penalty area.

Manchester City equalized two minutes later through Erling Haaland. A great ball from Matheus Nunes gave Haaland a header to make it 1-1. However, questions are being asked about Dean Henderson in the Palace goal and his positioning.

In the 42nd minute, Savinho shot over the goal from just outside the penalty area after a comprehensive counterattack by City. But Pep Guardiola’s side began to fight their way to the top of the competition.

Both teams had their moments as the half progressed, but the game went into halftime with an even score.

Second half

In the first ten minutes of the second half, Manchester City dominated possession. They did hold off the hosts, but the only threat Palace presented was City’s own carelessness in possession. It was exactly what caused the corner that put Crystal Palace back in the lead. A sloppy pass from Bernardo Silva led to Will Hughes having a shot that was blocked for a corner.

After the resulting corner in the 55th minute, delivered by Will Hughes, Maxence Lacroix put Crystal Palace back in the lead with a header. He overwhelmed Kyle Walker and fired a header past Stefan Ortega. Manchester City were annoyed at conceding such a soft goal.

From then on, Manchester City dominated possession, but there was always the danger of a Crystal Palace counterattack.

That was the pattern of the game until Rico Lewis equalized in the 68th minute thanks to a successful move from Manchester City. It was a beautiful, flowing move from Pep Guardiola’s side and the ball that Bernardo Silva played into Rico Lewis was sublime.

From then on, Manchester City stepped up a gear and the next chance fell to Savinho. Another great move saw Bernardo Silva beat the Brazil international. But his shot was deflected and Dean Henderson made a superb save to stop City taking the lead.

Manchester City had the whole game after the equalizer until Rico Lewis received his second yellow card in the 84th minute for a foul on Trevoh Chalobah. On second look, you could tell Lewis felt like he was hit hard when Chalobah landed on him, rather than the other way around.

Crystal Palace pushed forward after Lewis’ red card and tried to find a winner in the closing stages of the game. But after a series of corners, which City had defended well and Jeremy Doku looked ready to break free after the last of those corners, the final whistle blew. All in all, it was an entertaining game and you have to admire Manchester City’s fight to get back into the game with such a depleted line-up.

Here are the City player ratings from Selhurst Park as Pep Guardiola’s side left Selhurst Park with the point they deserved.

City player ratings

Stefan Ortega-6/10: Couldn’t do anything about any of Palace’s goals but didn’t have a busy afternoon in goal.

Kyle Walker-4/10: Was to blame for both Crystal Palace goals. Another poor performance from Walker, although he made a crucial intervention late on.

Ruben Dias-9/10: By far City’s man of the match. His blocks kept City in the game and he was outstanding throughout the game.

Josko Gvardiol-7.5/10: Things looked much better as a central defender. A brilliant performance from the Croatian.

Rico Lewis-6/10: Scored the equalizer for City and was harshly sent off. Sometimes he was bullied in midfield and sometimes he played well.

Ilkay Gündogan-8/10: In my opinion his best game since returning to the club. I thought he was great.

Bernardo Silva-6.5/10: His poor pass led into Crystal Palace’s corner where they restored their lead. He was brilliant after that and his assist for Lewis’ goal was great.

Kevin De Bruyne-7/10: De Bruyne wasn’t as effective as he was against Nottingham Forest but was a constant threat for the hosts. He is taking thorough care of his injury problems.

Savinho-6/10: He had moments to make an impression, but his finishing left a lot to be desired. Not City’s worst player on the day.

Matheus Nunes-8/10: A constant threat and his support for Haaland’s goal was great. After Lewis was sent off, he was deployed at right-back and did well there too.

Erling Haaland-7.5/10: Scored one and maybe should have had two. But he never stopped fighting for his performance at the top.

Substitute

Jeremy documentary – 6/10: Had a few moments, but didn’t get to see enough of the ball in the final stages.

Jack Grealish – N/A: Not turned on long enough to mark it.