Patrick Vieira masterminded an excellent victory at the Etihad the ten men of City to secure the Eagles second Premier League win of the campaign and many plaudits.
DATE
30th October 2021
RESULT
Manchester City 0-2 Crystal Palace
VENUE
Etihad Stadium, Ashton New Road, Manchester M11 3FF
OFFICIALS
Referee: Andre Marriner. Assistants: Adrian Holmes, Scott Ledger. Fourth official: Anthony Taylor. VAR: Lee Mason. Assistant VAR: Ian Hussin
DISCIPLINE
BOOKINGS – Jordan Ayew (27), Bernardo Silva (45), Ederson (45), Conor Gallagher (65), Vicente Guaita (86)
RED CARD – Aymeric Laporte (45)
GOALS
Wilfried Zaha (6), Conor Gallagher (88)
ASSISTS
Conor Gallagher (6), Michael Olise (88)
TEB VERDICT
It is no mean feat to be the first team to score against City at the Etihad in the Premier League this season, and with that, Wilfried Zaha bagged his 50th Premier League goal for Palace. There was plenty to celebrate as this was another fine performance from Patrick Vieira’s men and one that may just make up for the disappointment of not getting the victories in recent weeks that the team probably should have done. Every player played a part and the Frenchman picked a side to go toe-to-toe with the defending champions, and they did just that. We have said it before, but there is something special happening at Palace and this is just more proof of that.
BOB’S POINT OF VIEW
Bob White was a coach at Palace under the tenure of Steve Coppell and Alan Smith and will be sharing his point of view each week in our review article.
“What a sporting afternoon! England brutally dismantled Australia in the Twenty20 World Cup and Palace beat City, the current Premier League champions, 2-0.
The high press by Gallagher early doors robbing Laporte in possession created the opportunity for Zaha to score his 50th top flight goal. Although City dominated play, they rarely threatened as our defensive shape remained solid. Although the Laporte sending off just before half time could have handed the momentum to the opposition, City still retained a constant threat in the second half. However, resolute defending and an excellent second goal on the break through a combination of Olise, Zaha and Gallagher put the result to bed.
At least our fans weren’t put through the agony of another late goal to deny a well deserved victory. A 68% possession in favour of City was almost the inverse of our game against Newcastle last weekend but again, it confirms that old adage, it’s what you do with possession that ultimately matters.
Vieira made timely and positive substitutions especially with the score at 1-0, he brought on Olise for Kouyate. It signalled a real intent to score another goal and put the result beyond doubt.
An overall very good team performance also gained us a welcome clean sheet. Although others could be mentioned in dispatches, my man of the match goes to Joel Ward.
We can begin looking up the table again as this result should give real confidence and belief to our squad that we can take on the very best in this league. Together with the opening of our outstanding Academy facilities on Thursday, the result completed a fantastic week for the club.
Eight more wins. Up the Palace!”
PLAYER RATINGS
1 Vicente Guaita (7), 2 Joel Ward (8), 16 Joachim Andersen (7), Marc Guehi (7), 3 Tyrick Mitchell (7), 23 Conor Gallagher (9), 8 Cheikhou Kouyate (7), 18 James McArthur (captain – 7), 9 Jordan Ayew (6), 11 Wilfried Zaha (8), 22 Odsonne Edouard (6)
SUBSTITUTES – 1 Jack Butland, 4 Luka Milivojevic, 5 James Tomkins, 7 Michael Olise (replaced Kouyate on 85 mins – 7), 14 Jean-Philippe Mateta, 15 Jeffrey Schlupp (replaced Edouard on 73 mins – 6), 17 Nathaniel Clyne, 20 Christian Benteke (replaced Ayew on 65 mins – 6), 34 Martin Kelly
OPPOSITION LINE-UP
31 Ederson, 2 Walker, 3 Ruden Dias, 14 Laporte, 27 Cancelo, 17 de Bruyne, 16 Rodri, 20 Bernardo Silva, 9 Gabriel Jesus, 47 Foden, 10 Grealish
SUBSTITUTES – 5 Stone (replaced de Bruyne on 59 mins), 6 Ake, 7 Sterling (replaced Grealish on 78 mins), 8 Gundogan, 11 Zinchenko, 13 Steffen, 25 Fernandinho, 26 Mahrez (replaced Cancelo on 78 mins), 80 Palmer
POST GAME QUOTES
PATRICK VIEIRA – “We are showing that we are improving as a team. Coming to City is one of the most difficult grounds in the Premier League. I’m really pleased with the way we approached the game. We knew it was important to defend well and we did. We accepted to suffer and work really hard and in the end we were rewarded. It was important for us because we went to Liverpool and played really well but conceded three goals. Out of possession there were details we needed to improve and today the group showed they were capable of doing that for 95 minutes. When you come to City you have to have a bit of luck, but today it was not just about that. It was players putting their bodies on the line to prevent goals and players sacrificing themselves.”
MATCH STATISTICS
The Who Scored man of the match was Conor Gallagher (9.2) as Joao Cancelo (5) had the most shots. The most tackles were made by Ruben Dias (8) while Gabriel Jesus (4) had the most dribbles.
- Team rating: 6.18 – 7.10
- Total shots: 14 – 8
- Shots on target: 3 – 3
- Possession: 67.8% – 32.2%
- Pass success: 86% – 72%
- Passes: 647 – 314
- Dribbles: 10 – 6
- Aerials won: 14 – 14
- Tackles: 16 – 21
- Fouls: 11 – 11
- Corners: 7 – 1
- Saves: 1 – 3
- Dispossessed: 12 – 9
POSITION IN THE TABLE
At the final whistle, Palace were 13th in the Premier League with 12 points from 10 games played, level with Brentford in 12th and a point ahead of Southampton in 14th.
UPCOMING FIXTURES
06/11/21 Wolverhampton Wanderers (h) – Premier League (3pm)
20/11/21 Burnley (a) – Premier League (3pm)
27/11/21 Aston Villa (h) – Premier Le
