Manchester City 4-0 Crystal Palace: Premier League – as it happened
17-Jan-2021 21:18:45 | The Guardian
John Stones scored his first two Premier League goals for Manchester City as they made light work of Crystal Palace
Here is Jamie Jackson’s match report. Thanks for joining me. Have a great night.
Related: John Stones double sinks Crystal Palace as Manchester City close gap at top
Stones says during his spell out of the team he took a long, hard look in the mirror and decide to make improvements. Micah Richards is taking credit for it now.
Stones: “Very good. We knew it was a tough game today, the last two years we’ve not beaten then at home. It is something we’ve worked on the last few days, another cleansheet and win to keep that run going.
“I need to contribute with goals.”
What a side!
5 & 9 - Manchester City are the first team to record five consecutive victories in the Premier League in 2020-21, while they’re now unbeaten in nine games in the competition (W7 D2). Charge. pic.twitter.com/1CQWOPJpLc
Rico says: “Would be good to see him and Torres get some time together. However, you can’t argue against Silva getting a game.”
Their time will come.
Balanced it out.
John Stones scored as many goals today (2) as Manchester City have conceded this season when he has been on the pitch.
Canonise that man.
@Will_Unwin Time to make a Saint of JohnStones?
Two clinical finishes from Stones and beautiful strikes from Gundgoan and Sterling make it a great day for City who barely got out of second gear. Palace had a plan to defend, so had no response to City taking the lead. Easy peasy.
90 mins: Two minutes more.
Richard Hirst asks: “But can anyone sort out the pecking order (pun intended) of Eagles, Magpies, Seagulls and Throstles?”
McCarthy bundles Torres over on the edge of the area. Sterling decides he should be the man to shoot from 18 yards, he gives a stuttering run-up and then curls it into the top corner on the goalkeeper’s side. It is a cracker!
86 mins: Happy birthday for tomorrow Pep!
Two stones enveloped by a gundogan nutsack....and guardiola standing proud
84 mins: How do all of these Premier League footballers have such professional looking haircuts? I NEED TO KNOW! I’ve been cutting my own since March.
82 mins: Simon McMahon brings exact science to the blog in response to Peter Oh (60 mins): “Evening Will. Stones may indeed break crystal, but paper wraps stones, and scissors cut paper. On which basis I’m predicting Arsenal to win the league, and Sheffield United to avoid relegation. It’s not a scientific basis, granted, but still ...”
80 mins: Batshuayi is now being punished for his half-assed warmup and is forced onto the pitch for the final 10 minutes or so. Not much for him to achieve here.
78 mins: Looking at the replay, Ayew seems to trip himself up before Fernandinho slides in to get the ball.
76 mins: Ayew is still on the pitch, which is a bit harsh on the lad. He has had nothing to work with all day and has chased the ball and shadows for 76 minutes. He is now claiming for a penalty after bursting into the box before being taken down. The referee waves it away but VAR will check, I am sure.
74 mins: Hodgson and Lewington are out on the touchline. I assume they are just telling their players to keep going in a professional manner.
72 mins: De Bruyne and Gundogan with Torres and Cancelo coming on.
70 mins: Stones has now scored two Premier League goals for City, having scored zero before today. Lovely stuff.
De Bruyne swings in a corner which Dias heads towards goal, forcing Guaita into a good save but he can only parry it straight to Stones on the penalty spot, who smashes it into the back of the net for his second of the match!
66 mins: Batshuayi is out to warm up but his routine consists of standing with his arms folded while speaking to Benteke.
64 mins: Walker thinks he has won a throw-in off Eze but the referee awards him a free-kick, much to his surprise. Not much happening overall.
62 mins: De Bruyne swings a lovely crossfield ball into the path of Foden who takes a touch and then falls over in comical fashion.
City are now going through the motions, whereas Palace have no motions to go through. De Bruyne whips a shot from a central position 25 yards out which flashes wide.
60 mins: Ayew wins Palace a corner by whacking a shot off Dias. It comes to nothing.
Foden is on for Bernie Silva.
58 mins: Guaita takes a touch rather than clearing straightaway, allowing Jesus to close him down but the goalkeeper recovers just in time to avert disaster.
Palace clear a corner to the edge of the box, where Townsend loses possession to Gundogan, who gets it out of his feet and sets himself so he can perfectly curl it into the top corner. Ooooooof!
55 mins: Palace have Benteke and Batshuayi to bring on, but could they change much? Probably not.
53 mins: Sterling whips in a cross from the right but it defeats everyone in the box and goes out for a throw. City are still very much dominating.
51 mins: Bobby Dummett is back: “The reason I don’t see this as the Steve Coppell derby is because I his contribution to the two teams can’t really be compared, and I don’t think the City fans hold him in the high regard he deserves. It would be like calling Forest-Leeds the Brian Clough derby.”
He is a bit of a joke in east Manchester, that’s for sure.
49 mins: Sterling goes down in the box after losing his footing, so there is certainly no penalty.
47 mins: Jesus gets a whack in the chest from Cahill after the Brazilian beats him to the ball. City get a corner, which De Bruyne takes but it is easily cleared.
Here we go again!
Also good ...
@Will_Unwin the Malcolm Allison Derby
Paolo Biriani says: “Will, it’s easy to only remember Stevey coppell as a good manager but he was a hell of a player. God, he was good. As a youngster, seeing him in an England shirt gave me hope. Hope’s all dashed, of course, but I loved seeing him play. Keep this game as the Steve coppell derby please.”
John Stones’ goal separates the side. City have had most of the ball but been a touch pedestrian, Palace have defended well as a unit - it really is as we should have expected.
45 mins: One minute added on.
44 mins: Bobby Dunnett says: “The Steve Coppell derby? I think of this more as the Jamie Pollock derby. Or possibly the Sun Jihai derby.”
I will also accept the Eddie McGoldrick derby.
42 mins: De Bruyne finds Sterling in the box but his first touch is a little too heavy, allowing Tomkins to clear. The Palace defender thinks the throw-in should be his but the officials say otherwise, much to his chagrin.
40 mins: Ederson is probably having a lovely kip around about now. Not had anything to do.
38 mins: City will be hoping to add to their opener, as another game of holding on against a very defensive side will not be particularly inspiring. Jesus almost gets it after Gundogan flicks a cross into his path but the Brazilian can’t get much power in his header, making it easy for Guaita.
36 mins: Ward is late on De Bruyne and ends up clothes lining him 30 yards from goal to give away a free-kick. The Belgian looks a bit sore after that, so walks away from the set-piece. Gundogan takes it but sends it well over the bar.
34 mins: De Bruyne whips in another corner but it does beat the first man. Maybe he should have tried taking it with the outside of his boot.
Also a good option ...
@Will_Unwin If you lived in Toronto you could watch this game live and still have time for your tea afterwards
32 mins: The Steve Coppell Derby is certainly going the way of City at the moment. The balance that Zinchenko brings really has helped City in recent weeks, as he provides greater reliability on and off the pitch, compared to Mendy.
Walker swings in a potentially dangerous cross but it takes a flick off a Palace man and goes out for a corner.
30 mins: Palace’s gameplan really does fall apart by conceding. A second goal here would finish this as a contest, as Palace do not look keen on attacking.
28 mins: What superb cross that is from De Bruyne. There are not many in the Premier League who can provide that level of precision with the outside of their boot.
De Bruyne swings in a wonderful cross with the outside of his right boot, which lands perfectly on Stones’ head, allowing him to flick it into the corner.
24 mins: City find some impetus and as a nice move ends with De Bruyne getting a shot away from the edge of the box, which is deflected wide by Cahill’s head. The resulting corner creates to chances for City but both are blocked by Palace defenders.
22 mins: City are looking for the gaps in the Palace defence but they are really struggling to find any, resulting in the ball being passed backwards and sideways at regular intervals.
20 mins: Eze gets the ball 45 yards from goal, gets it out of his feet, sees Ederson is off his line (a bit) and pings it well over the bar. An optimistic effort.
18 mins: Walker spends 10 seconds turning one way, then the other as he works out where to pass the ball and in the end taps it five yards to De Bruyne. Palace happy to give City the ball, especially at the moment as they are doing very little with it. It is not surprising to see that Hodgson has Palace well drilled.
16 mins: City were very pedestrian against Brighton and they are not looking much quicker thus far today. Maybe they are just conserving energy.
Fernandinho sends a long diagonal ball into the box for Sterling but Ward reads it and nods it behind for a corner. De Bruyne swings it in towards the goalmouth where Guaita is waiting and punches clear.
14 mins: Ayew looks like he is in for a thankless task of chasing the ball around the halfway line today. City are knocking the ball around in the Palace half but do not look particularly penetrative.
12 mins: Bernardo Silva is the next man to try a cross into the box, but his inswinger from the right is headed well clear by Tomkins.
10 mins: A low cross is flicked into the City box but Walker is alert and gets down on his knees to chest it back to Ederson.
8 mins: De Bruyne goes over to the other side and the corner once again beats everyone in the box. Jesus eventually picks up the ball and looks to be taken down by McArthur but the referee gives nothing, as Palace take the ball up the pitch.
6 mins: Sterling earns a free-kick on the left flank after being clipped by Ward, who seems very apologetic for committing the crime. On the other side of the pitch, De Bruyne gets the ball near the byline from where he crosses the ball into McArthur to win a corner. The Belgian’s set-piece goes over everyone and results in another corner on the other side.
4 mins: Fernandinho swings a cross into the box but it lands at the feet of a Palace shirt. City are, needless to say, looking to control possession.
2 mins: There is a bit of a scrap on the far side as Palace break out after collecting the ball. Both teams look like they are up for it, at least.
Peep! Peep! Peep! Here we go!
Mary Waltz says: “Palace with Zaha had a fighting chance. Without him a 1% chance.”
Only time will tell.
Pep Guardiola says he has rotated his team, no tactical decisions in his changes. Guardiola says he does not know how Jesus will be after recovering from Covid. Something to keep an eye on ...
Zaha is missing after sustaining a knock against Arsenal. Kouyate is also absent due to a family problem.
@Will_Unwin That's all well and good, Will, but where the heck is Zaha?
After the disappointment of Liverpool v Manchester United, surely this is the real quiz now. City will fancy their forward line against that Palace back four, I am sure of that.
Greenman adds to the Foden chat: “Haven’t we put this discussion to bed? Seasons 18/19 & 19/20 saw constant criticism of Pep, both above & below the line, for not giving Foden enough game time.He’s developed into quite a useful player.Maybe the professionals know best.”
‘Quite a useful player’ indeed, but I just feel at this time he is becoming key to the side and that should be built on. Naturally, I am sure the City coaching staff know better but I can still proffer an underwhelming opinion.
Colin ‘The King’ Bell. I will out myself now as a City fan. When I was a kid - and we were utter dogshit - people would always refer back to Bell’s era and explain how good he was. I met him a few times and was a very lovely man. It’s sad to see him go but nice to witness all the great tributes to him.
Is 7.15pm on a Sunday a good time for a Premier League football match? I would quite like to be having my tea at this time but instead I am having to watch this.
Good to see Kyle Walker back - he will need to play well to make himself first choice again as Joao Cancelo has been one of City’s best players over the last month.
Robert Lin emails: “It’s just squad rotation, City play again on Wednesday, he’ll be back in the starting 11 then.”
I am not sure he needs to be rotated at the moment, he is finding his best form in midfield and is the man who is making City tick. Also, there are no guarantees he will be back on Wednesday.
Foden is back on the bench, which will not please the City fans who are desperate to see the midfielder become a mainstay of their midfield. His recent outings have been very impressive, so to leave him out is a little bit odd from Guardiola.
And Jonathan Wilson on City being good again ...
Related: Guardiola has turned City away from pressing and back to passing | Jonathan Wilson
One for City fans ...
Related: Yaya Touré: 'I would love to find a role that combines coaching with playing'
Palace are missing Wilfried Zaha who is completely absent from the match day squad, which will be a huge boost to City. The hosts are playing with an actual real life striker today, a rare treat for their supporters as Gabriel Jesus plays down the middle.
Manchester City: Ederson, Walker, Dias, Stones, Zinchenko, Fernandinho, Gundogan, De Bruyne, Bernardo, Sterling, Jesus
Subs: Steffen, Rodrigo, Torres, Mendy, Mahrez, Cancelo, Foden, Delap, Doyle
Manchester City look like a great team once more. At least they did until that pedestrian performance against Brighton but let us all hope that was just a tiny blip. Kevin de Bruyne is pulling all the strings available to him and Phil Foden is showing why he should become an integral part of the City team for years to come.
At the other end of the pitch, Ruben Dias and John Stones’ internet dating relationship is blossoming even in this time of lockdown, with Joao Cancelo and Oleksandr Zinchenko offering the balance they have lacked for much of the campaign.
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