5 Manchester City players who underperformed in 2-0 defeat to Crystal Palace | Premier League 2021-22

Pep Guardiola sent out a strong team to face Crystal palace but the Manchester City players made way too many mistakes. The Cityzens lost 2-0 at home to the Eagles after goals from Wilfried Zaha and Chelsea loanee Conor Gallagher.

The loss leaves them 5 points behind league leaders Chelsea – who managed to beat Newcastle United 3-0 at the same time. Guardiola was disappointed after the defeat and his anger was seen in the post-match press conference.

He said:

"We're not able to win the game, we conceded our first goal [at home in the Premier League this season] and after we work really well in the first half and, I would say, 25 to 30 minutes in the second one. But after playing for 45 minutes 10 against 11, a team like us we need the process and do everything right, that the people, the players, show character. But unfortunately it went wrong in many, many things and we lose the game."

"We conceded the goal early on but how many chances did they have? They had that goal and no more [in the first half]. It is quite similar the last seasons when Crystal Palace came here under (Roy) Hodgson. We lost one game one year and we drew another one."

Here are 5 Manchester City players who underperformed in the loss to Crystal Palace:

#5 - Bernardo Silva

The only compliment to give Bernardo for this game is that he kept trying to do something, but nothing worked. He was way below par today, just like all the other Manchester City players, but the bar he has set himself this season puts him on the list.

Bernardo played the full 90 minutes and completed just one dribble. The worst part is he did not even try hard enough as the only other dribble he attempted was stopped straight away.

Even in passing, the Portuguese was sloppy and saw a lot of his passes get intercepted. In the end, he had a pass success of 87%, 1 dribble completed and not a single attempt on goal.

#4 - Raheem Sterling

Raheem Sterling came on for the last 12 minutes of the game and made no difference. The Englishman was expected to bring energy to the attack and wriggle past the Crystal Palace defense but he did not manage to do anything special.

The former Liverpool star attempted just 6 passes in the game and only 3 of them managed to find a teammate. He replaced Jack Grealish, who offered a lot more in attack even on his off days.

Sterling's time at Manchester City is reportedly in the balance, with the winger confirming his desire to leave the club if things do not change. It would not be a surprise if the club move on from him in the next two windows.

#3 - Joao Cancelo

Joao Cancelo had a bad outing.

Joao Cancelo was another Manchester City player who was below par against Crystal Palace. The Portuguese defender was decent defensively but was not creative in attack.

The first-half performance was among the worst ever by Cancelo in the City shirt. He was taking shots at random when there were chances to pass the ball and most of his shots were blocked easily.

#2 - Ederson

Ederson should have done a lot better to stop the first goal scored by Crystal Palace. The visiting side gained confidence after the goal and if the Brazilian had done better, things might have ended differently.

The goalkeeper made things worse for him soon and Wilfried Zaha scored once more. But luckily, the goal was ruled offside and Manchester City did not have to pay a price for it.

The booking was unnecessary, while it did not have a big impact on the game, the Brazilian could miss a game later on in the season if he continues doing this.

#1 - Aymeric Laporte

Aymeric Laporte performed really poorly and it would be a big surprise if Pep Guardiola restores him to the starting XI when he is back from suspension.

Laporte had acres of space and enough time to pass the ball to Cancelo or someone in the first midfield but instead, he tried to dribble and when Conor Gallagher pressed, he panicked. The fumble saw him pass the ball to Zaha and the Palace man linked well with the Chelsea loanee and slotted in their first goal early in the game.

The Spaniard made things worse when he missed the ball and brought down Zaha when the Palace man tried to chase the ball down. Many might argue about the red card, but in the end, he was holding back the attackers who was going to be through on goal.

The Spaniard was responsible for the first goal but the manager was not sure if the red card should have stood.

"This afternoon, Jonny Evans with the same action got a yellow card. It is an interpretation from the referee. We made a mistake for the goal and the second one a yellow or red card it depends on the referee. "It's VAR. I don't know the line. It was a yellow card in Leicester a red here. The referees are the bosses and they decide."