Manchester City failed to win once again in the Premier League, as they cancelled out Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park drawing 2-2 with the Eagles on Saturday afternoon.
In the gusty conditions under Storm Darragh, which had caused chaos throughout the country over the weekend, City travelled to Selhurst Park to fight the weather and the Eagles, as they faced Crystal Palace.
Following seven matches without victory, the Sky Blues picked up a crucial win during the week by defeating Nottingham Forest 3-0 at the Etihad Stadium, as they looked to build on that result against Oliver Glasner’s side.
However, the miserable form of the Premier League champions continued early into the game, as a defence-splitting pass from Will Hughes found Daniel Munoz, whose driven effort beat Stefan Ortega Moreno in goal to give the home side an early lead.
Despite the dominance from the hosts in the first-half, City had a flurry of chances, including a volley from Ilkay Gundogan outside of the area which rattled the post, before the rebound fell to Savinho who fired an effort wide of the mark.
Manchester City made their efforts count eventually, when a whipped in cross from Matheus Nunes met the head of Erling Haaland, who guided his header into the far corner to level the scoring.
10 minutes into the second-half though, a whipped corner landed on the head of Maxence Lacroix, who leaped above and well clear of Kyle Walker, who seemingly stood still and watched as his side conceded a second and fell behind once more.
Manchester City replied emphatically with a slick passing move, as Bernardo Silva slipped Rico Lewis through in on goal, who fired a rocket into the top corner to level the scoring again and urged his side on to seek a winner.
However, all such intentions came crashing down for the full-back late into the second-half, as a late sliding tackle earned him a second yellow card with the score at 2-2, meaning Lewis will now be suspended for the Manchester derby on Sunday.
City managed to see the rest of the game out as they went another game without victory, making it one win in nine games in all competitions. With that being said, here is how we rated the players’ individual performances in the draw to Crystal Palace on Saturday!
Player Ratings
Starting XI
Stefan Ortega Moreno – 6
Will be disappointed with the first goal conceded.
Kyle Walker – 3
Has to take a large portion of the responsibility for the two Crystal Palace goals. Simply not good enough anymore.
Ruben Dias – 7.5
A colossal performance at the back from Ruben Dias, making several key blocks and clearances to keep Manchester City in the game, particularly at 1-0 to Crystal Palace.
Ruben Dias vs Crystal Palace:
123 Touches
106 Accurate Passes (Most)
94% Pass Accuracy
8 Passes Into Final Third
4 Blocks
3 Clearances
3 Accurate Long Balls
2 Touches In Opposition Box
1 Recovery
1 Interception
1 Ground Duel Won
1 Headed Clearance pic.twitter.com/oz8LCOW2d7
— City Xtra (@City_Xtra) December 7, 2024
Josko Gvardiol – 6
Struggled in the centre of defence against the Crystal Palace attack, losing a few duels to Jean-Philippe Mateta in particular.
Rico Lewis – 6
A somewhat disappointing display despite the goal, and also sustained a career first red card late into the second half in harsh circumstances. Will be ruled out of next weekend’s Manchester derby.
Ilkay Gundogan – 6
Sloppy in possession in the middle of the park with an untidy display overall.
Bernardo Silva – 7
Similar to Rico Lewis, his assist makes up for the overall performance for Bernardo Silva, who didn’t have his finest afternoon today.
Kevin De Bruyne – 7
Night and day creatively, with and without Kevin De Bruyne in the side, Manchester City are visibly more dangerous when playing with the Belgian. A timely and welcomed return to first-team football.
Savinho – 6
Created nothing notable in front of goal and missed a couple of good chances in the first-half.
Erling Haaland – 7
Scorer of Manchester City’s first goal out of nowhere, Erling Haaland had a tidy afternoon when found by a teammate.
Matheus Nunes – 7
Delivered an excellent cross for the first goal and generally played well. Another solid outing as he looks to keep his place in the squad.
Matheus Nunes vs Crystal Palace:
87 Touches
1 Assist
57 Accurate Passes
92% Pass Accuracy
8 Ground Duels Won
5 Recoveries
5 Touches In Opposition Box
4 Chances Created (Most)
3 Accurate Crosses
3 Successful Dribbles (Most)
2 Clearances
2 Headed Clearances
1 Tackle
1 Interception… pic.twitter.com/pFVkPHOH4v
— City Xtra (@City_Xtra) December 7, 2024
Substitutes
Jeremy Doku – 6.5
Instant impact in adding pace and intensity into Manchester City’s attacking line, but couldn’t influence too much in terms of individual chance creation.
Jack Grealish – No time to mark