The Norwegian decides with a strong performance and Guardiola’s men remain in good shape to challenge for the 2025/26 Premier League title
December 14
2025
– 1:06 p.m.
(updated at 1:21 p.m.)
Despite the pressure in the first half, Manchester City were precise in beating Crystal Palace, away, 3-0 in the 16th round of the Premier League. Thus, Haaland, twice, and Foden scored the goals of the match. With this result, the Citizens have 34 points, only two less than the current championship leader, Arsenal. On the other hand, the visitors remain on 26 and leave the G4, falling to fifth place.
In the next round, Crystal Palace will travel to Leeds United on Saturday (20), at 5 p.m. (Brasilia time). The Citizens host West Ham the same day, at 12 p.m. (Brasilia time). Before that, coach Pep Guardiola’s men will face Brentford, Wednesday (17), at 4:30 p.m. (Brasilia time), in the quarter-finals of the English League Cup.
Who doesn’t… takes
The first big chance came for the home side, when Mateta and Sarr scored, and the ball fell to Clyne who shot first. Then, Wharton makes a superb throw towards Yéremy Pino, who breaks free and hits the crossbar.
Under pressure, Yéremy Pino passes the ball to Ismaïla Sarr, who punches through the ball, but the ball goes past Mateta. On the other hand, City only had their first opportunity in the 28th minute, following a free kick from Foden.
After another superb throw, this time from Wharton, Sarr tried to dig against Donnarumma, but the referee flagged it offside. If Palace wasted their opportunities, Manchester were right with Haaland. After all, Matheus Nunes delivered a perfect cross and the Norwegian center forward headed it in to open the scoring.
City extends and takes three points
In the second half, Palace again had chances. Among them, Nico González’s shot at the foot of the post, which frightened the Italian goalkeeper’s goal. On the other hand, Matheus Nunes stole the ball and served Cherki, who left it to Foden to extend with a shot in the corner.
At a disadvantage, the home team started causing problems again. Nketiah appeared on the right and sent a bomb which Donnarumma saved well. Savinho, who came on in the second half, appeared free in front of goal and suffered a penalty from goalkeeper Henderson.
At the helm, him again: Haaland. The Norwegian had the peace of mind to pull the keeper out of the shot and extend City’s advantage. In the end, the visitors held on to the result and just let time pass to claim another Premier League victory.
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