Crystal Palace 0-2 Manchester City: 3 Reasons why Cityzens won the game | Premier League 2019-20

Nnanna
Crystal Palace v Manchester City - Premier League
Crystal Palace v Manchester City - Premier League

#2 Crystal Palace's attack was very inefficient

Crystal Palace v Manchester City - Premier League
Crystal Palace v Manchester City - Premier League

Palace had a very poor outing this evening, especially in attack. They were poor at finishing, with only two shots on target. They committed quite a few errors, were caught offside constantly, and relinquished possession of the ball too many times.

Christian Benteke's stunning header in the 76th minute was perhaps the biggest chance for the Eagles. However, it did nothing to change the scoreline as Ederson parried the headed ball onto the bar and it was cleared from the box.

Crystal Palace struggled from the starting whistle, and while they had a number of opportunities, they weren't nearly enough for the Eagles to make something out of. Palace were held down strongly by City's defence, and they will be very unhappy with such a poor display in front of their home fans.


#1 City were very dangerous in the final third

Crystal Palace v Manchester City - Premier League
Crystal Palace v Manchester City - Premier League

Both City goals were packed with creativity and pure class. Bernardo Silva's perfect cross lifted beyond the reach of Palace defenders and found Gabriel Jesus. Sterling's chipped through-ball was quite unexpected for a stunned Palace defence that could only watch as David Silva placed a volley between their keeper's legs.

City took 21 shots at Palace's goal, with 10 on target. In fact, Palace were quite fortunate to have Wayne Hennessey in goal, as the Welsh keeper managed nine saves throughout the game. Without Hennessey's quick reflexes, it could have been an entirely different scoreline, perhaps more similar to City's 8-0 win against Watford.

Hennessey's strong performance, however, is a testament to just how dangerous the Cityzens can be in the final third. They're willing to create chance after chance to get more goals, and any opposing defence will have to be at the top of their game to fend off the defending champions.

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