Manchester City’s title pursuit is rarely pretty in the early stages and almost always inevitable by the end. At Selhurst Park, Crystal Palace threw everything at them for long spells, hit the woodwork twice, and still finished on the wrong end of a 3-0 scoreline that showcased City’s most valuable trait: they can be uncomfortable without becoming unhinged.
Palace started with the kind of energy that turns a “routine City away day” into something sharp-edged. Oliver Glasner’s side pressed with purpose, carried the ball with confidence, and found space quickly enough to rattle City’s defensive rhythm. The first clear warning came when Yeremy Pino crashed a strike against the crossbar, the noise around Selhurst Park briefly switching from hope to belief.
City, though, rarely respond to early turbulence by going frantic. They slowed the game, owned the ball, and waited for Palace’s intensity to create the little gaps that inevitably appear. Even when Palace found joy in transition, City’s structure held, with their midfield recovering shape quickly and their back line refusing to be dragged into chaos.
The breakthrough arrived in the 41st minute and it felt like the moment the match clicked into City’s preferred groove. Matheus Nunes delivered from the right and Erling Haaland attacked the cross with the aggression of a striker who treats every aerial duel as a personal insult. His header flew beyond Dean Henderson and the game’s emotional balance shifted instantly.
Palace began the second half determined to drag it back. Again they went close, Adam Wharton striking the post early after the restart, another moment that would have turned the contest into a different animal if the ball had bounced two inches the other way. But the longer it stayed at 1-0, the more the match began to feel like a City exercise in controlled suffocation: keep Palace running, keep the crowd waiting, and choose the moment to twist the knife.
That moment arrived on 69 minutes. Phil Foden picked up space on the edge of the box and guided a precise finish into the corner, a goal that combined composure with certainty. If Haaland’s opener was force, Foden’s was finesse, and at 2-0 the contest’s tension evaporated.
Palace still tried to respond, but their threat became more occasional than sustained. City’s rotation and discipline took over, with Guardiola’s side managing the clock through possession rather than panic. When the third arrived late on, it was the product of the kind of ruthless efficiency that separates contenders from everyone else. Savinho burst into the area, Henderson brought him down, and Haaland stepped up to roll home the penalty in the 89th minute to complete his brace.
The final score suggested City had cruised. The match itself told a more nuanced story: Palace competed, Palace threatened, and Palace even had the moments to change it. City simply did what title chasers do. They survived the storm, struck when it mattered, and left with the clean sheet and the points.
