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The title race isn't over yet as Manchester City added another three points in their Premier League points tally. On Sunday afternoon, Pep Guardiola's men outclassed Crystal Palace with a stunning 3-1 scoreline. Although Crystal Palace is considered as a mediocre team, they already thrashed the Citizens 3-2 earlier this season.
Pep Guardiola opted his conventional 4-3-3 formation. There was no place for Fernandinho at the defensive midfield position. Ilkay Gundogan, Kevin De Bruyne and David Siva started as the midfield trio. Sergio Aguero was lined-up as a lone striker with Raheem Sterling and Leroy Sane in the supporting winger positions. In defence, Kompany paired up with Laporte, while Mendy and Walker started as the two fullbacks.
From the start of the match, the hunger for all three points was there in Guardiola's men. Sterling broke the deadlock in the 15th minute of the match. Palaces' forward failed to convenience as the opening 45 minutes ended with a 1-0 scoreline to the Cityzens.
The second half started as Man City continued their domination over the Eagles. It was Raheem Sterling, who hit the net in the 63rd minute of the match. After City's second goal, the men in blue tried to slow down the game's speed as Crystal Palace took the proper advantage of that situation. Ilkay Gundogan, who was gazing at Fernandinho's position committed a foul on McArthur at the edge of the penalty box.
Palace's set-piece master, Luka Milivojevic decreased the equation after scoring an outstanding goal from a free-kick.
The last strike of the day came from City's side as substituted forward, Gabriel Jesus made it 3-1 for the travellers. In the last game of the day, Liverpool managed to beat Chelsea as City maintained their second position with 83 points from 33 matches. Now, it's time to take a look at those 3 reasons why Manchester City won the game.
#1 Productivity from the fullbacks
Pep Guardiola's tactics always add more creativity for his fullbacks and today, his fullbacks made the victory easier with their outstanding performances.
In spite of having some fitness issues, Pep Guardiola opted Kyle Walker as their right-wing fullback. On the other hand, Benjamin Mendy started his first match after five months.
Both fullbacks not only helped their team offensively but also they made an impact with their defensive qualities. Benjamin Mendy inspired the most with his galloping runs. Man City could sink a heavyweight opponent any day if their fullbacks would continue today's performance.
#2 Individual brilliance from the Cityzens
It was a delightful afternoon for City's forwards. Although Manchester City's no.10 Sergio Aguero failed to gift a delicious outcome, the others on the same line did the job for Pep Guardiola.
City's midfield superstar, Kevin De Bruyne served a brilliant through ball to Raheem Sterling, who made a blizzarding run towards Palace's goal. In spite of having pressure from an opponent defender, the English jet finished the job single-handedly.
Sterling showcased an example of the presence of mind as the winger made a free run towards the far post. Leroy Sane found the existence of Sterling inside the box and distributed the perfect ball to him. The Probationer just tapped the ball into the nets.
Kevin De Bruyne made the second assist at the 90th minute of the match when the Belgian found the space and provided a through ball to Gabriel Jesus, who snatched all three points from the away soil by scoring the last goal of the match following a counter-attack.
#1 Palace's midfielders failed to break City's supply-line
Manchester City always try to operate their game with the help of their midfielders. Today, the likes of De Bruyne, David Silva and Gundogan played with their very best. Kevin ended the match with 2 assists in his bag, while David Silva and Gundogan also convinced the fans with their hard-working performances.
Palace's midfielders totally failed to intercept between City's supply-line. The Cityzens were passing the ball easily from one end to another end. We could say that Palace midfield allowed the Cityzens to capture the heart of the pitch.
The Eagles could have done better with their defensive qualities. Midfield should make the interception to decrease those number of passes. If midfielders like Schulpp, McArthur and Milivojevic came between the line of the passing area to break the connectivity between City forwards and midfielders, the result could go in the other direction.
