Crystal Palace 0-0 Manchester City: 5 talking points

#4 Manchester City looked jaded and beatable

Crystal Palace v Manchester City - Premier League

Manchester City were far from their scintillating best going forward, with their attacking line not achieving their usual telepathic level of sync.

They did not get too many chances either, with Palace defending resolutely and making the visitors work hard for every inch of space and control on the ball.

Sane and de Bruyne were out of tandem with one another, and one occasion visibly marked it; the Belgian voiced his displeasure at the former for checking his run. Had he not, Sane would have been offside, a fact which his coach will have to point out to him later.

Kun Aguero, who replaced Jesus on the pitch with less than half an hour played, came close to breaking the deadlock on more than one occasion. He struck the post, courtesy of a slight deflection, and shot another chance narrowly wide.

Ilkay Gundogan missed a chance too, shooting just over, from a reasonably tight angle. Kyle Walker had a busy – and not very successful – afternoon, trying to keep Zaha in check.

Sterling, who came on in the second half, failed to perform a rescue act for the league leaders; in fact, he ended up conceding a penalty late on.

Overall, City looked far from invincible; they lacked both spark as well as fight and Guardiola will have a talking to with his charges ahead of the upcoming fixtures.