March 15, (THEWILL) – Manchester City’s wastefulness cost them two crucial points in the English Premier League title chase, as Crystal Palace held them to a goalless draw at Selhurst Park in Monday night football.
The Eagles had won their first meeting 2-0 earlier in the season, and they proved to be Pep Guardiola’s kryptonite once again, as the Spaniard’s charges struck the post twice and missed a slew of other golden chances.
Furthermore, if Palace had been more clinical on the counter-attack, they might have even won, to do the double on the defending champions.
City dominated possession in the opening exchanges, as expected, but the visitors were guilty of a few concentration errors that allowed the Eagles to surge forward. Michael Olise had the finest of these chances, but his effort went just wide of the post.
As the half progressed, City became more focused, and the Eagles were able to avoid some close calls. Vicente Guaita spilled Kevin De Bruyne’s long-range shot, but Bernardo Silva somehow failed to finish the rebound.
After Joao Cancelo’s powerful attempt cannoned off the post, Aymeric Laporte sprang up with a nightmare miss of his own, blazing over unmarked as the unforced errors continued a spell of profligacy by the visitors.
Palace remained dangerous on the rare instances when they were able to break free from their defensive form or push City from a goal kick, but the clubs headed into the halftime break tied at 0-0.
The second period followed the same pattern as the first, with the visitors kicking the ball around at will while Palace tried to land a solid break to open the stalemate. Just before the hour mark, City came close again in quick succession, with De Bruyne hitting the post and Mahrez seeing his rebound saved by a leaping Guaita.
Bernardo amazingly pushed Jack Grealish’s deadly cross wide from a little over a yard out 20 minutes from time for another wasted sitter by the men from the Etihad.
As the game progressed, the title contenders were increasingly anxious to score, allowing Palace the chance to find a goal in the 85th minute, only for Zaha to put his effort way too near to Ederson Moraes.
The drama continued right up to the final whistle, with Laporte fluffing a close-range header before John Stones’ blunder nearly allowed Conor Gallagher to win the game for his side. But, it was over before either side could find a way through to the net.
The visitors’ dismal result meant they failed to widen their lead at the top to six points, and title contenders Liverpool will only be one point behind them if they can find a way to scale past the Arsenal challenge on Wednesday.
City will look to get back on track when they go to Burnley next in the league, before hosting Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium in a huge match that carries title-deciding potentials.
The Eagles remain in 11th place after earning a point, and their next Premier League match will be against Arsenal next month.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
