Manchester City 0-2 Crystal Palace: 5 talking points as 10-man Citizens get humbled by spirited Eagles | Premier League 2021-22

#3 VAR-enforced offside call added to the mayhem

Jesus saw a goal disallowed for offside, compounding City's misery.

Following a lively first-half performance from Palace, there were plenty of expectations from City in the second. City were expected to up the ante, and all eyes were on Palace if they'd be able to defend their narrow lead.

While the Sky Blues continued to go through the motions and Palace once again dominated, one moment of VAR madness at City's end added to the thrill.

Gabriel Jesus first saw a goal ruled out for offside in the build-up by Phil Foden, who assisted him for the strike. City's celebrations were cut short, as the goal was called off.

---

#2 Referee Marriner lets Palace get away with time-wasting tactics

Guaita looked to drag things on by deliberately wasting time.

Besides the loss, another important issue with which the Manchester City fans were (really) irked was referee Andre Marriner's proclivity to let Palace get away with time-wasting tactics.

Their goalkeeper, Vincente Guaita, was the real culprit. He was guilty of wasting time while taking goal-kicks, but he somehow managed to escape a booking until the 86th minute.

You can't blame Palace for trying to drag things, but it's the referee's duty to penalise one who deliberately waste too much time. That was something that Marriner spectacularly failed to do on the night.

---

#1 Are Manchester City beginning to lose steam?

City have failed to score in consecutive games.

Following a blip on the opening day of the season when they went 1-0 down against Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City have mostly seemed unstoppable. However, this week didn't go according to plan.

The Sky Blues were dumped from the Carabao Cup by West Ham on penalties in a game they failed to score in. On Sunday, they were blanked out once again, this time by Crystal Palace.

This was much worse than Wednesday, though, with City showing almost no attacking intent or creativity to trouble their visitors. That suggests that all's not well in Guardiola's paradise.

With the side's chief orchestrator, Kevin De Bruyne, going through a rough patch at the moment, City's engine is running out of steam. It's early days, though, and there's enough quality in the City ranks for the team to bounce back into contention.