Manchester City overwhelms Crystal Palace with two great goals from De Bruyne and a decent performance from Julián Álvarez

With Giuliano Alvarez as a starter and without the need to press too hard on the accelerator, Manchester City defeated Crystal Palace 4-2 in the match that opened the 32nd round of the Premier League and put Liverpool and Arsenal under pressure, the two teams competing hand in hand with the team led by Josep Guardiola for the title of the English competition.

But the local team surprised after 3 minutes, opening the scoring with a quick counterattack defined by the Frenchman Jean-Philippe Mateta After a long pass from Adam Wharton, it never looked like City might lose the duel that took place at Selhurst Park in south London.

Just 10 minutes after Mateta’s goal, The visit ended with a beautiful goal from Belgian Kevin De Bruyne, the most exceptional man of the meeting. At half-time the result was a draw, a result which represents a huge deal for the local team, who intend to ensure their continued existence in the English first division as soon as possible (they are eight points ahead of Luton Town, who are the first team under line of salvation).

But the tie was maintained for just 93 seconds in the complement, until Rico Lewis in front of the Manchester team. Then the Norwegian Erling Haaland took advantage of a low cross from De Bruyne to score his 19th goal of this Premier League (he is the competition’s top scorer). And De Bruyne completes the feat with another great goal. Four minutes from the end the Frenchman Odsonne Édouard scores.

This way, City have extended their unbeaten run in the Premier League to 16 appearances, in which he achieved 12 wins and four draws. Their last setback came on 6 December last year, when they lost 1-0 to Emiliano Martínez’s Aston Villa in Birmingham.

With this victory, the Heavenly accumulate 70 points, the same as Liverpool, but the Rossi They have a better goal difference (+42 vs. +40) and have yet to play the match on this date: They will visit Manchester United on Sunday at 11.30am. Arsenal, third in the title race, have 68 points and a +48 goal difference. The Londoners visit Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday at 1.30pm.

The Premier League is not the only competition that Guardiola’s team is focusing on these days. His other great aspiration is to defend the title in the Champions League and next Tuesday at 4 pm he will have a very complicated commitment on that mission: will visit Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu in the first leg of one of the keys to the final four. The rematch will be on Wednesday 17th at the Etihad Stadium.

As if that wasn’t enough, City are still in the running in the FA Cup too: on Saturday 20 April they will face Chelsea at Wembley in one of the semi-finals of the oldest tournament on the planet (in the other Manchester United and Coventry City will clash).