Haaland and Foden on target again as Man City secure fourth straight win

Haaland hits brace as Man City close to within two points of leaders Arsenal with 3-0 win at Crystal Palace

Manchester City moved back within two points of Premier League leaders Arsenal as Erling Haaland scored twice in a 3-0 win at Crystal Palace.

Haaland opened the scoring with a downward header from Matheus Nunes' cross after 41 minutes, though City came under plenty of pressure against their FA Cup final conquerors from last season.

Yeremy Pino and Adam Wharton struck the woodwork in either half for Oliver Glasner's hosts, but Man City pulled clear in the latter stages.

Phil Foden struck from 20 yards out in the 69th minute, following Rayan Cherki's solo run, and Haaland then made it 3-0 with a late penalty after Savinho was felled by Dean Henderson.

While City are back within touching distance of the summit, Palace stay fifth in the table, eight points worse off than Pep Guardiola's side.

How the match unfolded

After a quiet start, Wharton carved out the first major chance with a splendid pass to send Pino through, but the Spaniard could only loop his effort off the top of the crossbar.

City did not really threaten until Henderson beat Foden's free-kick away in the 29th minute, but they made the breakthrough when Haaland met Nunes' pinpoint delivery with a header that skipped off the turf and into the bottom-right corner.

Palace sought an immediate response, but Gianluigi Donnarumma raced off his line to tip a loose ball away from Jean-Philippe Mateta, and then held a tame left-footed attempt from the Frenchman.

Palace went close again when Wharton's drive bounced off the foot of a post early in the second half, though they then needed Henderson to deny Tijjani Reijnders 1v1.

But they failed to take advantage of that reprieve as another Wharton effort flew over the bar, and Foden doubled City's lead with a driven finish following Cherki's jinking run.

And Haaland killed the contest from 12 yards in the 89th minute, sending Henderson the wrong way after the Palace goalkeeper tripped Savinho.

Classy City avenge FA Cup final loss

While a dose of revenge for May's FA Cup final defeat was certainly on the menu for City, their focus was on remaining within touching distance of leaders Arsenal, following the Gunners' dramatic 2-1 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday.

City received a blow before kick-off, with Guardiola confirming a leg injury had sidelined Jeremy Doku, meaning Reijnders was fielded in an unfamiliar No 10 role.

Reijnders struggled to get involved for much of the first half, but he was one of several players who played a part in a vintage City move that led to the opener, featuring 25 passes.

If their first goal was all about the collective, their second resulted from two moments of individual genius. Cherki darted between Wharton and Will Hughes before timing his offload to perfection, allowing Foden to score in a fourth successive Premier League game.

City had to dig in at times on Sunday, but in the moments that mattered, they displayed their class – Savinho had been on the pitch for less than three minutes when he sprinted clear to win their late penalty.

And Haaland beating Henderson from the spot was the ideal way for City to cap their victory, after the Palace goalkeeper memorably denied Omar Marmoush from 12 yards at Wembley.

City now host Brentford in the EFL Cup quarter-finals on Wednesday, with West Ham United next up in the Premier League.

Eagles left grounded after midweek exertions

Palace are still adapting to their Thursday-Sunday routine, and all four of their Premier League defeats this season have come directly after UEFA Conference League games.

Their preparations for this one were not helped by issues with their plane preventing them from flying home immediately after Thursday's 3-0 win at Shelbourne, forcing them to spend an additional night in Dublin.

And though Palace's pacey attackers got their engines whirring here, the Eagles were unable to achieve lift-off.

Ismaila Sarr returned to their line-up after recovering from an ankle ligament injury, making his 100th Premier League appearance, before linking up with Senegal for the Africa Cup of Nations.

He was a bright spark, seeing one inviting centre fizz through the six-yard box without a touch in the first half, then teeing up Wharton's strike off a post early in the second.

Another marauding run was halted by Nico O'Reilly's alert challenge, but Sarr will perhaps regret not taking on an earlier shot.

Pino may also have a restless night after missing his glaring first-half chance, rushing his attempt under little pressure and clipping the woodwork.

Palace are in European action again on Thursday, at home to Finnish side Kuopion Palloseura, and they will hope for a smoother build-up to Saturday's trip to Leeds United.

Club reports

Crystal Palace report | Man City report

What the managers said

Oliver Glasner: "It feels a little bit wrong [the result] but we have to accept it. This is how big games are decided. It was small margins. I think City were better in the boxes. We had 16 shots and losing 3-0 is a tough moment. We will take our lessons from this game. We need these games to grow and develop and progress.

"We had three or four big chances and we tried to get our goal and get back into the game. It felt like if we got it something could happen."

Pep Guardiola:"It is really, really tough place to come. They are so good when they attack the channels inside with Pino, Mateta and Sarr. They defend so good. They are are a really good team, look at what they are doing this season.

"We have tried to work a lot and be ourselves, Still we are not at the top in some moments. But we can be better and better. We are in a good position and the players are doing fantastic so far."

Next PL fixtures
Key facts

Man City are now unbeaten in their last 11 trips to Selhurst Park in the Premier League, winning eight of those (D3), and keeping five clean sheets in their last seven.

Palace have struck the woodwork eight times in the Premier League this season, with only Manchester United and Newcastle United doing so more often (nine). They struck the woodwork twice in the same game for the second time this season, also doing so against West Ham United in September.

Foden has scored eight league goals from outside the box since the beginning of the 2023/24 season, with only Kylian Mbappe (14) scoring more across Europe’s big five leagues.

Haaland has now scored 2+ goals in 26 different Premier League matches, moving level in joint-10th with Cristiano Ronaldo.

Related Content