Haaland Dropped As African Duo Keep Man Cit…

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Manchester City moved to within two points of Premier League leaders Arsenal with a 3-0 win over Crystal Palace on Wednesday night.

Fixture: Manchester City 3-0 Crystal Palace
Score: 3-0
Goalscorers: Semenyo (32′), Marmoush (40′), Savinho (84′)

The Cityzens knew that only maximum points would keep them in the title race with the Gunners back in action on Monday night, but manager Pep Guardiola also had one eye on the weekend’s FA Cup final against rivals Chelsea, which was evident by his starting line-up.

Guardiola opted to drop top scorer Erling Haaland to the bench as Egypt international Omar Marmoush got a rare chance to lead the attack, while Phil Foden, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Savinho also came in for Rayan Cherki, Nico O’Reilly and Jeremy Doku.

Despite the flurry of changes, it was business as usual for the Manchester outfit who dominated possession with Bernardo Silva and Foden getting quite a few touches on the ball in the midfield as Palace’s resistance only lasted until the 32nd minute when Antoine Semenyo opened the scoring with his 17th league goal of the campaign.

Foden was the chiefs destroyer for the home side on the night with a lot of the team’s best attacking moves going through the England international, who bagged another assist before the break to set up Marmoush for the second goal of the night.

It was more of the same in the second period but Palace did not look pulling a goal back despite throwing on Imsaila Sarr, Adam Wharton and Jorgen Strand Larsen on the hour mark, as City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma enjoyed a somewhat quiet second half between the sticks.

City would see out the closing stages with relative ease but they did add to their advantage in the final four minutes when Savinho calmly slotted home from Cherki’s pass, with the latter now taking his assist tally to 12 in his debut Premier League campaign.

Key Performers:

Phil Foden was given a rare start this season and he did not disappoint. The England international was a constant threat in the final third and created both goals for the Cityzens in the first half.

Savinho also took his opportunity in the starting line-up and remained a big threat down the right flank the entire evening, while he capped off his performance with a well-taken goal in the second half.

Next Fixtures:

Manchester City: Chelsea, Bournemouth, Aston Villa

Crystal Palace: Brentford, Arsenal, Rayo Vallecano

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