Manchester City’s winning run was ended at Selhurst Park as Crystal Palace held the league leaders to a 0-0 draw.
It was a game full of frustration and wasted chances as the away side looked to equal a record set by Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich side of 19 league wins in a row. In the previous game, the Citizens managed to grind out a 1-0 win away to Newcastle United to extended their winning run to 18 straight games. Palace had previously played against Arsenal at the same venue, where they narrowly lost 3-2 to the Gunners.
The game as a whole was disappointing from a City perspective as Guardiola’s men failed to produce a convincing display. Palace’s defensive style and ferocity kept them grounded and ensured that they ended the New Year with a hard-fought point against the best team in the country. The game was marred by three significant injuries to players from both teams. For Palace, Scott Dann received an injury after a professional tackle and had to leave the pitch in the first half. For City, Gabriel Jesus left the pitch in tears after a horrible injury, which was confirmed to be at least a month out of action. Kevin De Bruyne was the other injury for the away side as Jason Puncheon recklessly fouled the Belgian, with the playmaker forced off the pitch on a stretcher.
In the last minutes of the match, Palace were awarded a controversial penalty after Wilfried Zaha went down from a challenge by Raheem Sterling to give the hosts a massive chance of winning the game late on. Fortunately for City, Ederson stepped up when it counted to save Luka Milivojevic’s penalty and ensure the away side left the game with a point.
Here are our player ratings from the match.
