Manchester City produced a seismic comeback to boost their Champions League qualification hopes as they beat Crystal Palace 5-2 in the Premier League on Saturday.
An extremely chaotic first-half saw City come from two goals down to enter the break all square, Kevin De Bruyne’s excellent free kick and Omar Marmoush’s close-range strike cancelling out efforts from Eberechi Eze and Chris Richards – the latter arguably fortunate not to have conceded a penalty shortly after Palace’s opener.
City completed their mightily impressive turnaround just two minutes after the break as Mateo Kovacic drove one home from range, with youngsters James McAtee and Nico O’Reilly adding some gloss to the scoreline.
The result moves City back into fourth spot before Chelsea and Newcastle United take to the field on Sunday, with Pep Guardiola’s side now knowing a fifth-placed finish will be enough to secure Champions League football next term.
Man City player ratings (4-2-3-1)
*Ratings provided by FotMob*
Player | Rating |
|---|---|
GK: Ederson | 6.9/10 |
RB: Rico Lewis | 7.0/10 |
CB: Ruben Dias | 6.8/10 |
CB: Josko Gvardiol | 7.3/10 |
LB: Nico O’Reilly | 8.1/10 |
DM: Mateo Kovacic | 8.1/10 |
DM: Nico Gonzalez | 7.1/10 |
RW: James McAtee | 8.1/10 |
AM: Kevin De Bruyne | 9.1/10 |
LW: Ilkay Gundogan | 7.8/10 |
ST: Omar Marmoush | 8.1/10 |
SUB: Stefan Ortega (71′ for Ederson) | 6.6/10 |
SUB: Oscar Bobb (82′ for Marmoush) | N/A |
SUB: Savinho (82′ for McAtee) | N/A |
SUB: Jack Grealish (87′ for Kovacic) | N/A |
SUB: Jeremy Doku (87′ for De Bruyne) | N/A |
Players not used: Vitor Reis, Abdukodir Khusanov, Matheus Nunes, Bernardo Silva.
Crystal Palace player ratings (3-4-2-1)
*Ratings provided by FotMob*
Player | Rating |
|---|---|
GK: Dean Henderson | 4.7/10 |
CB: Chris Richards | 6.5/10 |
CB: Maxence Lacroix | 4.9/10 |
CB: Jefferson Lerma | 4.9/10 |
RM: Daniel Munoz | 6.5/10 |
CM: Adam Wharton | 7.2/10 |
CM: Daichi Kamada | 6.1/10 |
LM: Tyrick Mitchell | 6.2/10 |
RF: Ismaila Sarr | 6.7/10 |
ST: Jean-Philippe Mateta | 6.0/10 |
LF: Eberechi Eze | 7.5/10 |
SUB: Will Hughes (46′ for Mateta) | 6.0/10 |
SUB: Ben Chilwell (63′ for Mitchell) | 6.7/10 |
SUB: Nathaniel Clyne (63′ for Lacroix) | 6.0/10 |
SUB: Matheus Franca (80′ for Eze) | 6.2/10 |
SUB: Justin Devenny (80′ for Wharton) | 6.3/10 |
Subs not used: Remi Matthews (GK), Joel Ward, Caleb Kporha, Franco Umeh-Chibueze.
