Six days after being condemned for their performance in the derby stalemate at Old Trafford, Manchester City roared back from two goals down to beat Crystal Palace in a thrilling encounter at Etihad Stadium.
After their defence had been badly exposed for Eberechi Eze and Chris Richards to put the visitors into a comfortable lead, City hit back after Palace had a third goal ruled out by a close call from the new semi-automated offside technology.
Outgoing City skipper Kevin de Bruyne was at the centre of the astounding reversal of fortunes.
First De Bruyne levelled as he deceived Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson with a superb 33rd-minute free-kick. Omar Marmoush levelled before the break with his seventh goal for City, then Mateo Kovacic drove De Bruyne’s lay-off into the bottom corner a minute into the second half.
James McAtee finally found the target after wasting a couple of excellent chances on his first Premier League start, dashing on to Ederson’s punt downfield before rounding Henderson and applying the finish. Nico O’Reilly’s deflected effort completed the scoring as City hit five goals in a home Premier League game for the first time this season.
It was a thrilling way to end an uncharacteristic run of six City games which had produced a total of 10 goals.
More importantly, it took them back into fourth spot in the Premier League and applied the pressure on Chelsea and Newcastle in the scrap for Champions League qualification.
There was some bad news as goalkeeper Ederson went down after feeling a pain in his leg as he went to make a routine second-half clearance and had to be replaced by Stefan Ortega.
De Bruyne rolls back the years
At most, De Bruyne will lead City into battle three more times in this arena.
Over the past decade he has produced so many sublime moments and provided memories that will last a lifetime.
But it had been a while since he had done anything significant, and when City’s form slumped a third of the way through the season, De Bruyne could do nothing to arrest the slide.
On this occasion, he simply was not willing to let the day end badly.
Questions might be asked of the wall Dean Henderson constructed for De Bruyne’s free-kick. Still, it requires elite ability to send the ball into the net off the inside of the post. The margin for error was non-existent.
A flaw in the data that allocates assists means Ilkay Gundogan was credited with the assist for Marmoush’s equaliser. But that is only because the German midfielder could not get a proper connection on De Bruyne’s knockback, which bounced through to Marmoush to crash home from close range.
De Bruyne definitely provided the assist for Kovacic to put the home side ahead a minute into the second half, though.
With his back to goal inside the Palace box, the Belgian calmly controlled O’Reilly’s cross before rolling the ball into Kovacic’s path. It was not quite Pele to Carlos Alberto from the 1970 World Cup final, but it needed the same ability to keep a clear head in a maelstrom – and the finish was equally emphatic.
Marmoush should have had another when De Bruyne rolled a low cross into his path after an hour. This time the Egyptian was denied by Henderson.
By the time Pep Guardiola took his captain off, offering him the warmest of hugs when he reached the touchline, City were clear and the three points were secure.
The standing ovation from the home support was fully deserved, as was the warm reception he received as the City players walked round the ground in response to their backing after the final whistle. Those supporters are running out of chances of acknowledge De Bruyne’s genius.
Palace crumble after bright start
There was a period, as his side were two goals up and cruising, Palace manager Oliver Glasner reacted to a chance that went begging by bouncing up and down before angrily remonstrating with his bench.
Glasner knew what City were capable of and must have feared the consequences. The Austrian was right to be wary.
Palace have improved markedly as this season has progressed and their biggest game this month is surely the FA Cup semi-final against Aston Villa on 26 April.
But Glasner will be concerned at the ease with which City found space to mount their comeback. Adam Wharton was outmanoeuvred in midfield and it got no better after half-time when Will Hughes was introduced to provide some support.
Palace had been so effective at the start of the contest too, as Daniel Munoz exploited space that City’s defence allowed them. Eze looked a threat, quite apart from tapping home Ismaila Sarr’s cross and when Richards took advantage of Ederson’s failure to intercept a routine corner into his six-yard area.
On the day semi-automated offsides were used in the Premier League for the first time, the technology confirmed the on-pitch decision to rule Eze offside as he stroked an effortless shot into the bottom corner had been the right one.
It was a decision that proved to be pivotal.
