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Manchester City cruised to yet another victory, their ninth on the trout, as they dismantled Crystal Palace, barring a nervy 10 minutes that saw Luka Milivojevic scoring one for Palace and putting City on the back foot.
In a comfortable afternoon, Raheem Sterling opened the account in the 15th minute after a brilliant ball from Kevin De Bruyne opened up the Palace defence. The winger doubled it up in the 63rd minute after Sane found an unmarked Sterling at the far post.
A nervy 9 minutes followed City after Luka Milivojevic scored one from a free kick in the 81st minute, but a 90th-minute goal from Gabriel Jesus buried the tie in favour of the Citizens handing a single point lead over Liverpool before the Merseysiders defeated Chelsea later in the afternoon.
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#5 The Premier League title race goes on
This has been one of the greatest Premier League races of recent times. The victory against Crystal Palace followed by a win from the Reds against Chelsea saw the leader at the top of the table exchanged for the umpteenth time this season.
With just a few matches remaining in the EPL, the Cityzens are in pole position to defend their title against Liverpool, provided that they win their remaining matches. But Pep Guardiola and his men will need to face Tottenham Hotspur at home and arch-rivals Manchester United away in their last 5 remaining matches while Liverpool has an easier run of matches as compared to the defending champions.
Liverpool lead the title race with two points over Manchester City after their victory against Chelsea later on Sunday but have a played a game more than Guardiola's side.
#4 Palace left it too late
It was always going to be a tough afternoon at Selhurst Park for Roy Hodgson and his men, but being one of the few teams to have beaten Manchester City this season, the hopes of a big upset was on the cards for the London club.
Hodgson had set up his side to counter-attack at blistering pace whenever the opportunity presented for the Eagles with Wilfred Zaha and Andros Townsend deployed at either end of the pitch and Christian Benteke playing as the lone man up front. If it was Kyle Walker who was responsible for Palace's comeback 3-2 victory at the Etihad last year, it was the same man who was responsible for keeping Wilfred Zaha quiet. The Englishman impressively kept his pacy and tricky compatriot at bay.
Manchester City was at their sublime best in the first half as Palace tried in vain to counter-attack. The City midfield toyed with their counterparts as Silva, De Bruyne and Gundogan sent dangerous balls through the Palace defence. Ultimately it was Kevin De Bruyne through ball that set Raheem Sterling free to score the first goal of the match.
The second half started from where City left off in the first, as Sterling scored his second of the match after a brilliant move from the Citizens.
The Eagles though sparked into life in the last 15 minutes. A foul on the edge of the box by Ilkay Gundogan on James McArthur saw Milivojevic scoring his 12th goal of the season as the Serbian drove his free-kick around the wall to make it an interesting last 10 minutes at Selhurst Park.
It was Palace who put on the pressure in the last 10 minutes of normal time before Gabriel Jesus buried the match with City's third goal.
#3 Kevin De Bruyne looks sharp and back to his best
Kevin De Bruyne was the best player on the pitch last season for Manchester City. The Belgian was almost untouchable on many occasions as Manchester City won the Premier League with a record number of points. The central midfielder also won the inaugural Premier League Playmaker of the season award with the Belgian bagging 16 assists.
This season though, the Belgian has found it hard to find the form of last season with injuries at almost regular intervals keeping the midfielder out of action on more than one occasion. The performances in the matches in which he has played this season have also been far from the level of what we expect from the Belgian.
Today though, the Belgian showed the EPL yet again why he is so highly rated. He ran the show for Manchester City from the midfield and illustrated what City was missing from their midfield. It was De Bryune inch-perfect through ball that set Raheem Sterling free to score the first goal of the match, surprisingly it was the first assist of the season for the 27-year old.
The Belgian was superb against Palace, pulling off some brilliant passes, defending and cutting out the free spaces and always keeping Manchester City on the front foot. It was the Belgian who provided the assist for Jesus to score the third and final goal of the match for Manchester City, his second of the season.
The return to form of the Belgian midfielder is sure to give Guardiola more to think about ahead of their second leg against Tottenham Hotspur in the weekend with the return of Bernardo Silva also likely to give more selection headaches for the Spaniard.
#2 Kyle Walker impresses but Aaron Wan-Bissaka outshines his compatriot
It was a match that pitted one of the most consistent right backs in the league, Kyle Walker, against one of the best right backs of this season, Aaron Wan Bissaka.
The Englishman had a torrid evening the last time City met Palace, with Walker being one of the culprits that allowed Roy Hodgson's team to come from behind to snatch the victory at the Etihad. The result of that match even prompted Pep to drop the English full back for a couple of matches.
This time around, Kyle Walker was up to the task. He handled the blistering pace, the silky touch, the tricks and turns of Wilfred Zaha quite comfortably, keeping the Ivorian at bay on many occasions.
The Englishman was fast, powerful and his instincts to prevent counter attacks while also being productive in the attacking front was equally impressive.
If Kyle Walker was great, another English lad took the honours of being the best right back on the pitch. Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who is seven years younger than his compatriot and burst into to the Premier League scene this season, outshined the 28-year old with his much assured and quality performance
The 21-year old Wan-Bissaka won an impressive 10 duels at a 70% completion rate. He also made five tackles, the highest a Crystal Palace player managed in the game, and eight clearances, and yet never once committed a foul.
He was impervious in his side once again showed why the 21-year old deserves to be playing in a much better team than the Crystal Palace. Taking into the account that Aaron Wan-Bissaka had Leroy Sané and Benjamin Mendy locked down, this feat speaks volumes of the youngster's talent.
#1 Raheem Sterling's on Fire
Raheem Sterling has been in the form of his life this season. The winger came into this fixture looking to continue his goalscoring exploits that have seen the 24-year old netting 15 times in the league this season. The best ever return for Sterling in his career stood at 18 Premier League goals and 23 in all competitions, just four goals behind his tally this season.
Sterling started the day rather unceremoniously as the 24-year old dragged the shot wide from almost eight yards out after some brilliant play from Leroy Sane and David Silva opened up the Palace defence. The winger though didn't have to wait too long for his first strike as De Bruyne produced an inch-perfect through ball from almost 40 yards out for Sterling to run at before scoring as the winger ran clear of Scott Dann before burying at the back of the net over Vicente Guaita to score his and Manchester City's first goal of the match in the 15th minute of the match.
The second goal though was more about the build-up rather than the finish. It was once again the combination of Silva and Sane that wrecked the Palace defence. The German fired a delightful low across the face of the goal to an unmarked Sterling who cooly poked in his second and Manchester CIty's second of the day in the 63rd minute.
Raheem Sterling could have easily had a hat trick if only the 24-year old winger produced a much better finish than what he did in the 10th minute of the match.
