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.
Ederson - 8
Nearly gave away a silly goal when him and Mangala almost collided with Benteke. He redeemed himself to save Patrick van Aanholt’s deflected attempt, before making a crucial save from the penalty spot to deny Palace a famous win.
Kyle Walker - 8
Was given the big task of dealing with the threats of Wilfried Zaha and van Aanholt, but he was able to dominate the City right flank with the right amount of aggression and physicality. Was arguably City’s man of the match.
Nicolas Otamendi - 8
He was as solid as ever at the back, and one thing that stood out was his passing ability. His defensive side was fantastic as well, which shows just how far he has come in the space of a few months.
Eliaquim Mangala - 7
The Frenchman put in a solid display against an opposition that were looking to expose his deficiencies in passing and defending. For a player that many City fans wanted gone in the summer, he has proved his doubters wrong with good performances.
Danilo - 6
Ensured that Townsend’s threat would be nullified, but wasn’t able to provide that attacking threat that Delph and Mendy both have. City lacked another dimension going forward because of this.
Kevin De Bruyne - 5
It wasn’t his best game for City, and it ended on a very sour note. Puncheon’s recklessness towards the end of the match saw the Belgian get what looks like a nasty injury. The good news is that he is able to put pressure on his injury, so we will see in the future what the extent will be.
Fernandinho - 7
Defensively solid as per usual in the centre of the pitch, but could have offered more going forward when City needed it most.
Ilkay Gundogan - 5
Just didn’t provide enough of an influence to pick apart a defensive Palace side.
Bernardo Silva - 5
Like Gundogan, Silva wasn’t effective when it mattered most – creating the big chances. Made a good chance for Aguero bu it needed more curve if it was to be a real goal-scoring opportunity.
Gabriel Jesus - 5
Heartbreaking to see him go down again with a horrible injury and I hope he gets back on the pitch soon. He hasn’t scored since Leicester City in November and will be desperate to come back firing on all cylinders.
Get well soon, Gabriel!
Leroy Sane - 5
Should have done better on a couple of good City counter-attacks, and reacted stupidly to giving away a free-kick which resulted in him getting his fifth booking of the season.
Substitutions
Sergio Aguero (for Jesus 24) – Unlucky to hit the post – 7