Crystal Palace put a huge dent in Manchester City's hopes of retaining their Barclays Premier League title with a 2-1 win at Selhurst Park on Monday night.
Goals either side of half-time from Glenn Murray - his fifth in as
many matches - and Jason Puncheon sealed all three points for Palace,
with Yaya Toure's thumping late drive proving scant consolation for the
champions.
Manuel Pellegrini's side now sit nine points adrift of Chelsea having
played a match more, and they head into Sunday's derby with Manchester
United in fourth and a point behind their rivals having lost three of
their last five league fixtures.
Martin Kelly for Pape Souare was the hosts' only change from their
2-1 win at Stoke City last time out, and it was the former Liverpool
defender's dangerous cross in the second minute that Wilfried Zaha hit
over from close range.
City responded strongly to that early scare and pinned Palace back
with a period of constant pressure. David Silva twice brought smart
saves out of Julian Speroni, while Sergio Aguero struck the base of the
left-hand post.
Aguero stabbed over as City continued to dominate but then, against the run of play, Palace took the lead in the 34th minute.
Dann got on the end of Joe Ledley's flick and, after his effort was
saved by Hart, the ball ran kindly for Murray to tap home from two
yards.
Palace doubled their lead three minutes after the restart when
Puncheon sent a superb 20-yard free-kick over the wall and into the
bottom-right corner, leaving Hart with no chance.
James McArthur did brilliantly to clear another Fernandinho effort
over the bar as the visitors piled on the pressure, and Toure's superb
left-footed strike from 20 yards raised hopes of a comeback.
No comments:
Post a Comment