Manchester City staged a stunning comeback to down Crystal Palace, with Erling Haaland scoring a second-half hattrick.
Erling Haaland made a statement on the pitch after helping Man City stage a stunning comeback to down Crystal Palace at the Etihad. Four second-half goals from the home side secured three points, and thinking about it now, from what the score was at half-time, this was an incredible performance from Pep Guardiola’s side.
Crystal Palace looked comfortable in the first period and matched Manchester City’s fluid attack with a quick defensive setup. Patrick Vieira’s’s side were disciplined at the back and kept frustrating Man City. Suddenly they were one-nil up after Eberechi Eze’s corner deflected multiple times off Man City players and beyond Ederson’s reach.
Soon, they doubled their lead after Joachim Andersen was left unmarked from a corner, as the defender headed with power beyond Ederson. Man City could not break down the Palace defence, who seem to take their tag as Guardiola’s ‘bogey’ team rather seriously.
In the second half, Man City were a different gravy, as they fought one goal back through Bernardo Silva. From that point onwards, it was all about Guardiola’s side, who continued to attack in numbers, and Palace did not take long to fold.
Man City have been two goals behind at some stage in four of their last six Premier League games:
◉ 2-2 vs. West Ham
◉ 3-2 vs. Aston Villa
◉ 3-3 vs. Newcastle
◉ 4-2 vs. Crystal PalaceThe comeback kings. ? pic.twitter.com/KsZATVba0B
— Squawka (@Squawka) August 27, 2022
Erling Haaland was the star of the second period, as the Norwegian scored a stunning hattrick to go on top of the Premier League scoring charts. The striker now has six goals and an assist to his name from four games, and he seems like the signing of the summer.
Here’s how the players rated as Man City chased down a Palace side and collected three points at home.
Manchester City
Ederson – 6/10
Ederson was helpless for both goals, although he had barely anything to challenge today. In the first half, Palace had only a single shot to their name, and even in the second period, he was merely a bystander barring a few chances the opposition created for themselves.
Kyle Walker – 5/10
There are some alarming signs about Walker’s performance. After being ripped apart by Allan Saint-Maximin last weekend, the right-back had another challenging game, as he was involved in both Palace goals. In the second one, he should have marked Andersen from the corner.
John Stones – 5/10
Stones was unfortunate to concede the own goal from the corner, but overall, he was part of the leaky defence that needs tightening as the season progresses.
Ruben Dias – 5/10
Like Stones, Dias looked uncomfortable when Palace attackers drove with the ball. The Portuguese centre-back is expected to get better with a game run, but this performance does not win the league.
Joao Cancelo – 6/10
Cancelo continues to be poor defensively, but his output going forward is why Guardiola highly values him.
Rodri – 6/10
Rodri was tidy enough to control and recycle the ball to his attackers. He is key to Guardiola’s system and did a decent job protecting the backline.
Kevin De Bruyne – 7.5/10
Man City’s creator-in-chief, De Bruyne, was at it again, the main engine of this side’s attack. Even though he finished the game without a goal or assist, the Belgian was at the heart of everything positive his team did, particularly in the second half.
Bernardo Silva – 9/10
It’s clear why Man City does not want to lose Silva so late in the transfer window to Barcelona or PSG. The Portugal international was key to the attack and began the comeback with a brilliantly taken goal. He was on hand to create many chances and proved the catalyst to this Man City comeback.
5️⃣0️⃣ City goals for @BernardoCSilva! ?
? 1-2 ? #ManCity pic.twitter.com/ZTSwADzXS7
— Manchester City (@ManCity) August 27, 2022
Phil Foden – 5.5/210
Foden had few half chances in the game, but he was somewhat lacking when given the ball in the final third. He got an assist for Haaland’s first goal, which put Man City in a position of comfort in their chase.
Riyad Mahrez – 5/10
Mahrez had no impact, despite making some driving runs from the right wing. Infact after he wa replaced by Ilkay Gundogan in the second half, Silva took up his place and did a fantastic job out wide.
Erling Haaland – 10/10
It’s infrequent for an outlet to give a 10/10 rating, but Haaland deserved every bit of it. After a wasteful first half, the Norwegian came to life with a second-half hattrick to finish a stunning Man City comeback.
First Premier League hat-trick for Erling Haaland! ? pic.twitter.com/FZBYIoqfYf
— GOAL (@goal) August 27, 2022
SUBSTITUTES
Ilkay Gundogan – 6/10
Gundogan’s arrival somewhat changed the dynamics of how Man City played. His presence injected a bit of steel in midfield, which played to the benefit of his team.
Julian Alvarez – 7/10
Alvarez proved a point again, as his arrival tended to stretch the Palace defence, which soon folded as the Argentine provided the assist for the stunning Haaland equaliser.
Julián Álvarez did not misplace one pass as he completed 20/20 passes. He also got fouled twice, the most for a Manchester City player vs. Crystal Palace. This via @argentidata. ??? pic.twitter.com/aLh6DuGq8U
— Roy Nemer (@RoyNemer) August 27, 2022
Sergio Gomez – N/A
Not long on the pitch, he got his first taste of English football.
Cole Palmer – N/A
He was not long on the pitch, but he will aim for more minutes.
Crystal Palace
Vicente Guaita – 5/10
Guaita could count himself lucky after an ineffective performance from Man City in the first period. However, as his team folded, he had no chance to stop either of the four goals the opposition scored in the second period.
Nathaniel Clyne – 5/10
Clyne was not looking to play forward for most parts, although he did an excellent job in the defence, particularly in the first half. He did find it hard to cope with the intensity that Man City displayed, which was also the case with the entire defence.
Joel Ward – 5.5/10
Ward was rock solid at the back in the first period but struggled for relevance in the second period like many of his teammates. He was guilty for a few lapses at the back, although it was s contrasting performance from the first 45 minutes.
Joachim Andersen – 7/10
Andersen continued his fine run of form and got himself on the scoresheet with a powerful header in the first half. For some reason, his organisational skills were lacking in the second period, as Palace ended up giving up their two-goal lead and conceding four.
Joachim Andersen’s first half by numbers vs. Manchester City:
100% ground duels won
100% aerial duels won
23 touches
17 passes
8 long balls
4 clearances
1 shot
1 goalContinuing his excellent start to the season. ? pic.twitter.com/ZySLOhAGVC
— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) August 27, 2022
Marc Guehi – 6/10
Like everyone else in the backline, Guehi was a solid outlet in the first half and stood up to countless challenges from Man City attackers. However, he could not do much to prevent either of the four goals in the second period.
Tyrick Mitchell – 7/10
Mitchell had a brilliant game until he got injured. The full-back was a classy outlet to protect the defence, and Man City’s comeback coincided with his fitness issue. He was taken off, and the opposition found joy from the right side as Palace folded.
Jordan Ayew – 7/10
Ayew was a battler on the pitch, often troubling the Man City defence with his intricate running with the ball. Defensively, he was always out there to help his teammates and doubled up as an outlet to receive the ball whenever things got tight elsewhere.
Cheick Doucoure – 6/10
Doucoure could not display his talents as a holding midfielder, as he was permanently on the back foot to defend balls. Crystal Palace as a whole decided to sit back right from the first whistle, but overall the midfielder had an eventful game.
Jeffrey Schlupp – 5/10
Schlupp put in a gritty display, always looking for the bite in tight spaces. He was a tricky customer for Man City attackers to deal with and often a passing outlet when Palace needed to get out of tight spaces.
Eberechi Eze – 7/10
Eze’s brilliant first-half performances ensured Palace did not miss Wilfried Zaha too much. The attacker delivered both the corners for the two goals in the first half and proved difficult for the opposition to handle many times during the game.
Don't sweat on it, folks.
Eberechi Eze is just the third player to provide an assist in three consecutive away Premier League appearances for Crystal Palace, after John Salako in 1992 (four in a row) and Christian Benteke in 2018 (three).
Wow. ?#StatAttack pic.twitter.com/9pv1lp9Keo
— GOAL Africa (@GOALAfrica) August 27, 2022
Odsonne Edouard – 5/10
Vieira wanted some pace from his striker, and Edouard produced a selfless display to give his side an edge, at least in the first period. He barely saw much of the ball, but it was still a dynamic performance.
SUBSTITUTES
Chris Richards – 5/10
Richards replaced Mitchell, and soon Man City found joy on his side. Not a performance he would remember.
Will Hughes – 5/10
Hughes was brought on to bring some level-headedness in midfield and barely could do much to stop any of the Man City goals.
Michael Olise – N/A
An optimistic change from Vieira to bring on Olise, who barely saw any ball even to get a rating.
Jean-Philippe Mateta – N/A
Another optimistic change from Vieira. The manager did want to conjure up something from the game, although things were beyond repairable then.
