Crystal Palace 2 Man City 4: De Bruyne runs the show as Guardiola’s champions keep up pressure on Arsenal and Liverpool
LET’S save the suspense: Kevin De Bruyne looks to have passed his audition to make the City team for Real Madrid on Tuesday.
And Erling Haaland probably did enough to justify his inclusion too, after netting his 30th of the season in this rescue operation.
There was the slimmest of chances boss Pep Guardiola could bench his deadly duo for their Champions League quarter-final first leg at the Bernabeu after a few indifferent displays… though no one really believed it.
They were left out of Wednesday’s 4-1 thrashing of Aston Villa as hat-trick hero Phil Foden, De Bruyne’s heir-apparent to the play-making throne at City, ran riot.
This time it was Foden’s turn to watch on as a sub as De Bruyne put on a masterclass to dig Guardiola’s treble-winners out of trouble after Jean-Philippe Mateta’s shock opener.
The brilliant Belgian thundered home two great strikes to book end efforts from Rico Lewis and Haaland in between, before a late consolation from Palace sub Odsonne Edouard.
It made, in the end, for a relatively comfortable afternoon in Croydon, despite Guardiola’s warning pre-match that any dropped points would make a title charge “almost impossible”.
And now the Spaniard can head to Madrid knowing two of his three key attackers are back in the groove ready to link up with man-of-the-moment Foden against Jude Bellingham and Co.
City completely dominated the first half but bizarrely, were lucky that it was just the one goal they shipped after some sloppy errors.
It came inside three minutes as John Stones needlessly gave the ball away, allowing the impressive Adam Wharton to set Mateta free.
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Ruben Dias seemed to be almost daring the Frenchman to have a go, which he did, and beautifully found the target as the ball kissed the inside of the post.
It sparked raucous celebrations inside Selhurst, not least from Eagles boss Oliver Glasner who ran down the touchline punching the air.
Guardiola meanwhile was seething in his dugout, knowing what a gift his side had offered up in a game where they could ill-afford any mistakes.
But City are not treble-winners for no reason, even if they are not hitting full stride right now.
And in De Bruyne, they still have arguably the greatest attacking midfielder to grace the Premier League, along with Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard.
Palace keeper Dean Henderson had done well to deny efforts from Julian Alvarez and Rodri, but there was nothing he could do about KDB’s zinger on 13 minutes.
Jack Grealish did well to occupy three defenders and cut it back to De Bruyne, but the magic of the goal came from the shot the Belgian then unleashed which curled into the top corner.
Eight minutes later De Bruyne should have had an assist to his name too as he sent Haaland through with an inch-perfect pass.
But the out-of-sorts striker fired straight at Henderson. It was not exactly a League Two level effort, as Roy Keane may have put it, but certainly not enough to do the job in the top flight.
The windy conditions were causing De Bruyne and Grealish’ coiffured barnets to fly about the place.
City still looked sharp though as they calmly set about breaking down Palace’s rigid backline, as Alvarez tried his luck from distance.
Yet nerves can do funny things to even the most seasoned pros at the business end of the season and with so much on the line.
You do not get a more experienced player than Rodri, on a ridiculous run of 64 games without defeat for club and country going into this clash.
But remarkably it was he who had his pocket picked by Jordan Ayew as the half wore on, only for the Ghanaian to thunder the ball against the crossbar.
Rodri then had another moment of madness but it sparked one of genius from his stopper Stefan Ortega.
The midfielder’s weak backpass almost allowed in Mateta, only for Ortega to nick the ball away from the burly forward with an impudent Cruyff turn.
We are used to seeing City goalkeepers be good with their feet, but this was on another level from the German. Absolutely filth, as the kids say.
A shaky end to the half from the visitors threatened to get worse when Eberechi Eze went down under Josko Gvardiol’s clumsy challenge in the box, but ref Paul Tierney was unmoved and VAR backed him up.
Gvardiol, who had been booked for dissent, was hooked at half-time for Stefan Akanji.
And within two minutes of the restart, Guardiola’s men were back in front thanks to another defender.
Lewis controlled a loose ball in the box, after Joachim Andersen had only half cleared Grealish’s cross, and fired home off Jefferson Lerma sparking chants of “Rico, Rico” from the away end.
This time it was Guardiola’s turn to punch the air in celebration, and relief will have washed over him when De Bruyne beat the offside trap to feed Haaland 19 minutes later.
The Norwegian poked home for his first goal in six games for club and country – a tortuous drought by his standards – and now needs one more to make it 20 league goals for the term.
De Bruyne completed what was ultimately a rout by fizzing home Rodri’s cutback shortly afterwards.
And though Edouard’s clever finish underlined City’s surprisingly softer underbelly this season, Guardiola could still leave South London satisfied.
That was in large part thanks to old faithful De Bruyne doing what he does best.
How the action unfolded…