Crystal Palace Dents Man City Title Hope

Manchester City’s hopes of retaining the Premier League title are all but over after Manuel Pellegrini’s charges succumbed to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Monday night. The hosts came within a whisker of taking the lead just a minute into the match, with Martin Kelly whipping a ball to the back post that Jason Puncheon mis-kicked and Wilfried Zaha blasted wide. City slowly worked their way into the game and nearly opened the scoring 15 minutes in when Sergio Aguero rounded Julian Speroni before squaring to David Silva, but the Palace keeper rushed back to save with his shoulder. The visitors went on to enjoy a dominant spell, Fernandinho firing wide from just outside the box and Aguero blasting an effort off the post with Speroni stranded. Palace then repelled further efforts from Silva and Aguero before countering in spectacular fashion just after the half-hour mark. Joe Ledley sent the ball into the City box where Scott Dann was on hand to lash towards goal, and even though Joe Hart saved the initial effort, Glenn Murray pounced at the far post to tap home. Vincent Kompany went on to argue with referee Michael Oliver, claiming that several Eagles players were offside, but the goal stood nonetheless. It would get worse for City after the restart, because Fernandinho’s foul on Murray three minutes in gave Palace a free kick just outside the box, which Puncheon expertly curled past Hart and into the net to leave the champions two goals down. The visitors quickly set about trying to reduce the deficit, and were nearly rewarded just before the hour when Toure’s free kick curled just inches over the bar, while Silva blasted a long-range effort wide moments later. There was yet more controversy for City when Fernandinho’s shot in the 71st minute appeared to have been handled by Murray in the area, but the referee turned their claims down once again. Palace’s back line eventually crumbled when Toure collected the ball outside the box and unleashed a left-footed drive that beat the diving Speroni on its way into the back of the net. The latter stages of the game saw the hosts under siege as the champions desperately sought to claw back whatever remaining hopes they had of retaining the title. Despite a flurry of efforts from virtually the entirety of City’s front line, Palace held firm and saw the game out, leaving their opponents nine points behind Premier League leaders, Chelsea, who also have a game in hand. Meanwhile, Palace climb to 11th in the table and can lay claim to being influential in the title race for the second year in a row, after their draw against Liverpool a year ago killed off the Reds’ trophy dreams.