Pep Guardiola's side huffed and puffed against the Eagles before their top scorer fired home the winner from the penalty spot
Erling Haaland slotted home a late penalty to give Manchester City a scrappy 1-0 win at Crystal Palace after a performance to forget from the Premier League champions.
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The Norwegian showed his usual composure to beat an otherwise excellent Vicente Guaita from the spot in the 78th minute to close the gap on leaders Arsenal to two points ahead of the Gunners' trip to Fulham on Sunday.
Guaita had been the scourge of City by saving efforts from Rodri and substitute Julian Alvarez, but was sent the wrong way by Haaland.
City dominated possession and didn't concede any shots on target to a highly-defensive Palace, but they lacked their usual attacking verve, and were not helped by Pep Guardiola fielding four centre-backs in defence.
GOAL rates Man City's players from Selhurst Park…
Getty ImagesGoalkeeper & Defence
Ederson (6/10):
Barely had anything to do.
John Stones (6/10):
Equipped himself as well as he could as makeshift right-back, but it's clearly not his forte and struggled to ask many questions of Tyrick Mitchell.
Manuel Akanji (7/10):
Was confident on the ball and kept Wilfried Zaha very quiet.
Ruben Dias (6/10):
Solid as usual and helped ensure Palace had no shots on target.
Nathan Ake (6/10):
Faultless in defence but his attacking shortcomings came into focus.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesMidfield
Ilkay Gundogan (7/10):
Helped find the breakthrough by drawing a foul from Michael Olise inside the penalty area with tricky feet.
Rodri (7/10):
Barely put a foot wrong in midfield and had one of the best attacking moments in the game, drawing a super save from Vicente Guaita with his potent volley.
Bernardo Silva (7/10):
Could not run behind or thread any passes through Palace's ultra-compact defence.
Getty ImagesAttack
Phil Foden (5/10):
Struggled to get going and was the first to be hauled off. Disappointing after his excellent display against Newcastle last week.
Erling Haaland (6/10):
Shanked a glorious chance over the bar from close range and was often stranded out on the left, but showed composure from the spot when it mattered.
Jack Grealish (6/10):
Kept trying to get behind the Palace defence but his passes and dribbles were repeatedly smothered.
Getty ImagesSubs & Manager
Julian Alvarez (6/10):
Was bright when he came on but sent a promising chance over the bar.
Kevin De Bruyne (6/10):
City were already ahead when he came on and he managed to further stretch Palace's defence.
Kyle Walker (N/A):
Only introduced for the final five minutes.
Pep Guardiola (5/10):
Took a gamble by fielding four centre-backs and dropping De Bruyne and was fortunate to come away with the three points.
