Erling Haaland brace sees Man City beat Palace, close gap on Arsenal | OneFootball

Crystal Palace suffered a 3-0 defeat to Manchester City in the Premier League at Selhurst Park on Sunday afternoon.

Palace started the game brightly and were the better side in the first half, but were not clinical in front of goal.

Palace should have opened the scoring in the 17th minute when Adam Wharton put Yeremy Pino through on goal, but the Spaniard smashed his effort against the crossbar.

Palace came close to getting the breakthrough as Daichi Kamada picked out Ismaila Sarr, whose flashed cross into the area evaded Jean-Philippe Mateta.

On the half-hour mark, Pino was presented with another chance to give the Eagles the lead, receiving a pass from Sarr, only to fire a tame effort at Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Palace were made to rue their missed chances as City scored with their first chance in the 41st minute.

Matheus Nunes whipped a cross into the area, which was met by Erling Haaland’s towering header, giving City the lead before the break.

Four minutes after the restart, Palace almost drew level through Wharton, whose low strike beat Donnarumma and hit the woodwork.

Palace had Henderson to thank as the English goalkeeper made a brilliant save to deny Tijjani Reijnders from doubling City’s lead.

At the other end, Wharton missed another chance to restore parity for the hosts, firing over the bar after combining with Pino.

City made it 2-0 in the 69th minute with Rayan Cherki driving past his markers before slipping the ball to Phil Foden, who picked out the bottom corner from outside the box.

A minute from time, Haaland completed the scoring from the penalty spot, sending Henderson the wrong way.

With the victory, City reduce Arsenal’s lead at the top of the standings to two points, while Palace fall to fifth.