Manchester City, led by the departing Kevin de Bruyne, battled back from two goals down to beat Crystal Palace 5-2 in a thrilling English Premier League clash at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
England international with Nigerian roots Eberechi Eze and Chris Richards put the visitors into a comfortable lead inside the first 21 minutes, but City hit back after Palace had a third goal ruled out by a close call from the new semi-automated offside technology.
Captain De Bruyne, who recently announced he will leave City at the end of the season, played a key role in his side’s stunning fightback.
First, De Bruyne pulled one back for Manchester City as he deceived Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson with a superb 33rd-minute free-kick.
Egypt forward Omar Marmoush levelled before the break with his seventh goal for City, and 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 long ball 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, including a tepid 0-0 draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford last week.
The result took City back into fourth spot in the Premier League table and applied the pressure on Chelsea and Newcastle in the fight for UEFA Champions League qualification, while Palace are 11th.
There was some bad news for Pep Guardiola’s side as goalkeeper Ederson went down after feeling a pain in his leg as he went to make a routine second-half clearance.
The Brazil international was replaced by Stefan Ortega.
