Two wonderful goals scored by Kevin De Bruyne helped Manchester City to a 4-2 win at Crystal Palace on Saturday and moved the Premier League’s defending champions level on points with leaders Liverpool.
The two goals included De Bruyne’s 100th goal for City.
It was far from plain sailing for a shaky City in the first half in south London, with a John Stones error allowing Jean-Philippe Mateta to put Palace ahead and further sloppy passes from Rodri leading to Jordan Ayew hitting the bar.
City goalkeeper Stefan Ortega also pulled off a Cruyff turn in his six-yard box to prevent Mateta from adding another.
De Bruyne however curled in a brilliant equaliser, and two minutes into the second half Rico Lewis gave City the lead.
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Like De Bruyne, Erling Haaland was recalled to City’s starting XI on Saturday and, after a quiet first half in which he had just seven touches, the striker will have been pleased to tuck in a cross from the Belgian to end his five-game run without a goal for club and country.
De Bruyne then lashed in his milestone strike from a Rodri lay-off to put City into cruise control, although Odsonne Edouard’s late finish – after Ruben Dias had cleared another of his efforts off the line minutes earlier – gave the visitors a trickier final few minutes than they were expecting.
But with De Bruyne and Haaland scoring and Phil Foden given the afternoon off after his hat-trick on Thursday, City’s key players look primed for their huge Champions League quarter-final away day at Real Madrid on Tuesday.
As for Palace, they are now on a run of one win in eight. They sit eight points above the relegation zone with seven games to play.
Crystal Palace return to action on Sunday, April 14, as they take on Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool.
City are back to Champions League action on Tuesday, March 9, as they travel to Real Madrid in their quarter-final first leg.
They will continue their Premier League campaign on Saturday, April 13, as they host Luton Town.
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