Manchester City kept their Premier League title hopes alive thanks to a 3-0 win over Crystal Palace.
The Citizens dominated proceedings, taking 15 shots and creating three big chances with their 72% share of possession.
Man City limited their visitors to just six attempts, with 0.73 Expected Goals. But it didn’t come without an early scare in transition.
In this article, we’ll cover
Palace early direct threat
Man City set up in their usual 4-2-4 zonal block off the ball. The early threat against Guardiola’s side came from having a small double pivot with both Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden protecting the centre.
Crystal Palace were able to win a few second balls in the centre with their forwards dropping off the frontline, the likes of Will Hughes and Jefferson Lerma pushing on to also win the second ball and generate quick attacks on the break.
After a few early scares, Guardiola’s side settled into the game. They dealt with these moments better as the Man City wide men would press the Palace wide centre-backs, Omar Marmoush and Antoine Semenyo would screen access to the pivot. Man City’s backline stepped more aggressively to stop Palace gaining a 3v2 on the second ball.
The pace of Man City’s defensive line allows them to play with aggression in this phase of play, with the speed to recover if the opponent gets in behind. But it also gives them the benefit of a high line and offside trap at times.
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Man City pin the block
Man City were able to stretch and pin the Crystal Palace 5-2-3/5-4-1 shape, by dragging their wide forwards away from the build and extending the distances for the central midfielders to jump.
Josko Gvardiol making his return to action after a five-month absence was key. He was able to do a similar job to Nico O’Reilly pushing on from left-back into the left half-space to drag Brennan Johnson away from Marc Guehi in the build.
Silva would also drop below the first line of pressure from Palace to form a makeshift back four, with Guehi and Abdukodir Khusanov shifting over and Matheus Nunes staying low on the right initially.
With Nunes staying low on the right and Gvardiol dragging Johnson away, it left Jean-Phillipe Mateta as the only forward in the press to apply pressure on the ball when the central defenders or Silva were on it.
This caused problems for Hughes and Lerma. Hughes was tasked with deciding whether to jump to apply pressure on Guehi or Silva, leaving a lot of space for Lerma to cover on his own, or force Johnson to jump onto Guehi instead. Hughes was then dragged wide to cover Gvardiol, also leaving Lerma with a lot of space to cover.
Man City had plenty of the ball in the first half, pinning Palace back inside their own half, manipulating their press and getting sustained pressure in the final third. But it was Foden who eventually picked the lock with a moment of magic.
Foden picks the lock
Foden hasn’t been in favour recently. He’s played just 315 minutes across Man City’s last 13 Premier League matches.
But it was the 25-year-old’s quality that pierced the Palace low block, providing a moment of class to set up Semenyo for his first goal in seven league games.
Foden receiving in the pocket between the lines, forced Maxence Lacroix to step out and opened a gate between Chris Richards and Jaydee Canvot for Semenyo to arrive in.
Before receiving the ball, Foden checked his shoulder to see where Semenyo was. He then made his move towards the ball, dragging Lacroix away.
Foden took a second scan while moving towards the ball, which activated Semenyo to the situation. The Ghanaian started to make his movement towards the space.
The rest is pure quality from Foden. Slipping it between Lacroix (stepping out) and Canvot with a no-look back-heel, allowing Semenyo to apply the finish first time, giving the keeper no chance to react to the quick release.
Foden went on to set up the second goal too, but whether he meant to play the pass or bring it down for himself is a debate. Either way, it was a brilliant performance from the English playmaker who will be hoping to secure his World Cup spot this summer.