Dazzling De Bruyne helps Manchester City sink Crystal Palace after early scare

Just when Manchester City are creaking, they find a way. It helps, of course, to have Kevin De Bruyne around. His 99th goal for the club wrenched City back level just when it seemed Crystal Palace had the tools to take down the champions. And after a first half of frustration, having Jack Grealish back in form to supply key roles in goals for Rico Lewis, Erling Haaland and then De Bruyne again, completing his century, was more than handy.

This did not quite fit the template of winning while playing badly, since City’s second-half display was full of control, poise and deadly finishing that Palace found no way to stop. It’s now over to Liverpool and Arsenal to play their hands in the three-way game of who blinks first, while Pep Guardiola turns his attentions to the Champions League.

The restoration to the starting lineup of Haaland and De Bruyne had been made with Tuesday at Real Madrid in mind. So, presumably, was the benching of Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden, the latter despite his hat-trick heroics against Aston Villa. Against opponents who have regularly troubled Guardiola, he still played a strong hand and eventually reaped the benefits of restoring two of his franchise players.

The excitement in Oliver Glasner’s selection came in the reappearance of Michael Olise on the bench. Risking Olise with an injury against Brighton in February was one of the final blows under Roy Hodgson, and Palace had won only one game since his absence. He arrived to applause with 15 minutes to play just as Rodri, much improved after an uncharacteristically dodgy first half, was withdrawn, the talisman’s exit a sign that even Guardiola’s anxieties had abated. When Odsonne Édouard knocked in Jeffrey Schlupp’s cross with five minutes to play there was little panic from the visitors, though Olise whipping a trademark shot across Stefan Ortega’s goal suggested there might still have been life in the game.

In Olise’s absence, Eberechi Eze and Adam Wharton have taken up creative duties, the latter signing from Blackburn augmenting his reputation as someone with an eye for a pass thanks to his role in Palace’s opener. After John Stones lost possession in deep midfield, it was Wharton’s ball that picked out Jean-Philippe Mateta to gallop beyond the City defence and beat Ortega at the far post. Guardiola raged at being torn asunder by someone he will have marked as dangerous. Not for the first time, Palace’s speed of transition had caught out City but such attacks would become fleeting as first Julián Álvarez and then Rodri forced good saves from Dean Henderson.

The Palace goalkeeper had no such answer to De Bruyne, who received a short pass from Grealish, shrugged off Wharton and curled the ball into the net for an equaliser celebrated with clenched fists from scorer and manager. City hurriedly sought a quick second but Henderson won a one-on-one with Haaland and Palace, with Jordan Ayew smashing over, showed themselves still capable of creating chances. Oscar Bobb, a young player handed his assignment on the right wing, was struggling for space when adeptly marked by Tyrick Mitchell.

When Rodri was caught on the ball and Ayew hit the angle of post and bar, City were given further reminders of their opponents’ threat. Next, with a fit-again Ederson watching from the bench, Ortega’s mettle was tested by a ropey back pass from Rodri, before having to claw away a corner. Palace looked the likelier team to score as the first half ended. Guardiola, hands on hips, seemed exasperated at his team’s malfunctions.

In the tunnel before the second half started, City’s players were deep in conversation, with the one change the introduction of Manuel Akanji for the struggling Josko Gvardiol. Instant dividends were paid as Lewis scored only his second league goal for City, the previous also coming against Palace. Grealish’s cross was deflected by Joachim Andersen into Lewis’s path and then off the flying boot of Jefferson Lerma.

City surgically killed off the game from there, strangling Palace’s supply lines to only fleeting counters. Haaland, with a head-down charge through Andersen, and De Bruyne, who attempted another long-ranger, both went close.

A becalmed Eze departed the scene with 25 minutes left on the clock, and the contest was concluded within six minutes. Grealish supplied De Bruyne to lay on Haaland’s tap-in, and then performed a similar role for De Bruyne’s second with Rodri supplying the final pass. Job done, with rather more ease than might have been expected during those first-half flashes of worry.