Man City 0-2 Crystal Palace: Wilfried Zaha torments Premier League champions as Aymeric Laporte sees red

Crystal Palace produced one of the shocks of the season as they beat 10-man Manchester City 2-0 with Wilfried Zaha and Conor Gallagher firing in the goals.

Zaha scampered away on a Palace counter-attack to put the visitors ahead on seven minutes, scoring his 50th Premier League goal for the club, and then he tempted Aymeric Laporte into hauling him down just before the break which saw the City defender sent off for being the last man.

Pep Guardiola's side gave it a good go in the second half for their manager on his 200th Premier League game in charge and they thought they had levelled when Gabriel Jesus poked home at the back post, but the goal was ruled out by VAR as Phil Foden was offside in the build-up.

That decision seemed to deflate City and Palace counter-attacked shrewdly in the final stages, with Gallagher firing home to seal the points.

The result leaves Manchester City five points behind Chelsea in third place in the Premier League.

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How Vieira's Palace shone at the Etihad…

Palace came into this tough test on the back of four straight draws but many had been impressed with their performance levels. They started like a team full of confidence in how they pressed City. It was that pressure that led to the shock opening goal.

City were bringing the ball out from the back when Laporte passed into no-man's land having been spooked by pressure from Gallagher and Zaha.

Zaha raced past Ruben Dias and hit a low left-footed shot across Ederson into the far corner - a 50th goal in the Premier League for the homegrown winger.

Vicente Guaita stopped a Rodri snapshot and Joao Cancelo wildly lashed off target as the hosts attempted to draw parity, but City's free-flowing style was lacking.

Things got worse for City in first-half stoppage time when Zaha caused Laporte more problems with his pace and power.

Zaha turned centre-back Laporte, who reacted by dragging the goalscorer to the deck to prevent him running through on goal. Referee Andre Marriner handed out a straight red card - a decision ratified by VAR.

City, fuelled by that potential injustice, went about trying to tip a fired-up Zaha over the edge as Bernardo Silva was booked for a frustrated challenge on him, with Ederson joining him in the notebook as tempers frayed at half-time.

An intriguing encounter was on the cards with City chasing the game with 10 men.

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Rodri fired a first-time strike just over from Jack Grealish's cutback when play resumed after the break, but the Eagles were still looking dangerous.

Marc Guehi headed just over from a free-kick won and whipped in by Gallagher, who was doing the work of about two players in a richly-impressive performance.

City patiently probed but Guaita was not massively tested as Rodri fired another wayward finish wide following a corner.

With Foden becoming more involved, the pressure did start to grow on the Palace defence and City were celebrating an equaliser on 61 minutes. Or what they thought was an equaliser.

Foden's magical cross was directed home by Jesus from a seemingly-impossible angle but with City waiting to kick-off at the halfway line, VAR ruled that Foden had strayed offside in the build-up.

Jordan Ayew wasted a glorious chance and Cancelo saw a low shot saved as play swung from end to end but it was Palace who carried the greater threat. And, boss Patrick Vieira was celebrating a second goal with two minutes to play.

Zaha, who timed his run in behind perfectly again, kept his cool under pressure and squared for substitute Michael Olise, who laid off for Gallagher to fire home and seal the points.

What the managers said

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola: "We're not able to win the game, we conceded our first goal [at home in the Premier League this season] and after we work really well in the first half and, I would say, 25 to 30 minutes in the second one.

"But after playing for 45 minutes 10 against 11, a team like us we need the process and do everything right, that the people, the players, show character.

"But unfortunately it went wrong in many, many things and we lose the game.

"We conceded the goal early on but how many chances did they have? They had that goal and no more [in the first half].

"It is quite similar the last seasons when Crystal Palace came here under (Roy) Hodgson. We lost one game one year and we drew another one.

"It's the same process. It takes time to change the rhythm because the 'keeper all the time takes the momentum, long balls. They are good at keeping the ball.

"They have quality, they defend really well with solidarity and defend the gaps and block the shots.

"We cannot say that we had many but we had enough chances in the first half to score.

"When 10 against 11 it is more difficult, we scored a goal, it was disallowed and even Rodri had one or two chances to score. At the end, the counter-attack anything can happen."

Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira: "We are showing that we are improving as a team. Coming to City it 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.

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"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."

Man of the match: Conor Gallagher

We must be entering into signing-of-the-season territory with the on-loan Chelsea man. He was yet again absolutely everywhere for Palace at the tip of their midfield, setting the tone for their intense pressing in the early stages which led to the opening goal for Zaha. But he is not only a player with tremendous workhorse capabilities, he has bags of quality too. The finish for his goal showed that.

Opta stats

• Manchester City have lost four of their last 10 Premier League home games (W5 D1), as many defeats as in their previous 55 on home soil (W46 D5 L4).
• Crystal Palace have suffered just two defeats in their opening 10 games of the season (W2 D6), their lowest haul of losses after 10 games of a top-flight season since 1990-91, when they'd lost none.
• City have picked up three red cards in the Premier League in 2021, last receiving more in a calendar year in 2012 (4).
• Crystal Palace are only the third side to beat Pep Guardiola's Manchester City at the Etihad on 2+ occasions in the Premier League (Man Utd 3, Chelsea 2).
• Since his first Premier League season with Crystal Palace (2014-15), Zaha has provoked nine opposition red cards in the competition, more than any other player.

What's next?

Live Premier League

City now host Club Brugge in the Champions League at 8pm on Wednesday, before a trip to rivals Manchester United at 12.30pm on Saturday, live on Sky Sports Premier League. Palace host Wolves at 3pm on Saturday in the Premier League.

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