#3 City show greater control
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There is little doubt that City have underwhelmed this term, with no Premier League title challenge or progress in the Champions League. There have been some magnificent – yet all too fleeting – performances, though, and this rout ranks among the best.
The chief problem for Guardiola in 2016/17 has been his team’s lack of control. Far too often City have allowed matches to descend into chaos, which only happened very occasionally when their manager was at the helm of Barcelona and Bayern Munich. The 2-2 draw at Arsenal last month is probably the best example: City were superb for the opening 30 minutes yet seemed to drift off thereafter, with the Gunners allowed a route back into the game.
Guardiola was very critical of his side in the aftermath of that draw, but he will have been a great deal happier with what he saw on Saturday. Palace were starved of possession in the first half but did occasionally cause problems on the counter-attack, with Christian Benteke going close to an equaliser with a header from Townsend’s cross.
After the interval, though, City barely allowed Allardyce’s charges out of their own half. They pressed effectively and won back the ball almost as soon as it was lost, while Palace struggled to transition from defence to attack. If City can produce more performances like this next season, they will be title contenders.
