Liverpool will lead the Premier League by four points at Christmas after Manchester City suffered a shock 3-2 defeat to Crystal Palace.
Match Events
Andros Townsend scored a sensational goal-of-the-season contender as Crystal Palace dealt Manchester City's Premier League title defence a body blow with a stunning 3-2 win at the Etihad Stadium.
City enjoyed a regal dominance up until Ilkay Gundogan's 26th-minute opener but Jeffrey Schlupp levelled six minutes later before Townsend turned the contest on its head with an outstanding long-range volley.
Luka Milivojevic increased City's misery and delight at Anfield with a 51st-minute penalty that means Liverpool will celebrate Christmas with a four-point lead at the Premier League summit.
Kevin De Bruyne's overhit cross sailed in five minutes from time but Pep Guardiola's side were unable to undo the damage in the late rally that followed.
Match Events
27' GOAL! Man City 1-0 Crystal Palace (Gundogan)
It had been coming and City take the lead! It comes after more good work down the left. Sane plays the ball back to Delph and the stand-in skipper crosses superbly with his right foot to find Ilkay Gundogan as he drifts in at the far post and plants his header into the corner.
33' GOAL! Man City 1-1 Crystal Palace (Schlupp)
What a response from Palace and what a finish from Jeffrey Schlupp. Zaha gets at Laporte down the right channel, and is tackled but the loose ball comes to Townsend. He finds Schlupp, who gets into the box but appears to be getting forced away from goal, only to angle a fine shot, low into the far corner of the net! We're all square!
35' GOAL! Man City 1-2 Crystal Palace (Townsend)
UNBELIEVABLE! What a hit from Andros Townsend! Palace lead and Townsend has just scored one of the goals of the season!
Van Aanholt's free-kick is partially cleared, Silva then tries to head it further clear but the ball loops up to Townsend 35 yards from goal, who hits one of the sweetest volleys you are ever likely to see - past Ederson and into the top corner!
51' Penalty Goal! Man City 1-3 Crystal Palace (Milivojevic)
PENALTY TO CRYSTAL PALACE! Palace counter, Wan-Bissaka crosses from the right, Townsend heads again the post and as Meyer reaches the rebound, he is tripped by Kyle Walker!
No mistake from Luka Milivojevic, firing the ball beyond Ederson into the 'keeper's left-hand corner. Palace have daylight and, as it stands, so will Liverpool at the top of the table!
85' GOAL! Man City 2-3 Crystal Palace (Kevin de Bruyne)
He's not meant it, but Kevin de Bruyne has pulled one back for City! His cross from the right is overhit but it drifts beyond Guaita and into the far corner.
Line-ups
Man City XI: F. Delph, N. Otamendi, K. Walker, İ. Gündoğan, R. Sterling, A.Laporte, J. Stones, Ederson Moraes, Sané, Bernardo Silva, Gabriel Jesus
Subs: S. Agüero, Danilo, K. De Bruyne, Mahrez, Zinchenko, Foden, A. Murić
Crystal Palace XI: Sakho, Tomkins, McArthur, Vicente Guaita, Townsend, Van Aanholt, L. Milivojević, W.Zaha, Schlupp, Meyer, Aaron Wan-Bissaka
Subs: J. Speroni, Dann, Puncheon, J.Ward, Ayew, A. Sørloth, Riedewald
All4love55
279
Kudos to Crystal.They play their heart out and looked like they are winning £50m each for winning this one as christmas present. Sorry Mancity fans,all is not over yet untill whole season over... (Seriously speaking,as a die hard Liverpool fan ,I rather Mancity took the CL crown and Liverpool for the EPL crown.Both party win.
Nesaiknruy_Legend
255
That was an amazing game. 2 of the best goals in the season across all leagues were scored in the same game. An insane goal by Townsend reminiscing of what Ox scored against City last year and then an even more impressive goal that was accidental but nontheless insane and possibly the best goal I seen across all leagues from KDB. But the bigger news is that City is slowly falling down the pecking order. This is good news to the rest of the top 4. But what's getting scary is that the smaller teams are stepping up now and challenging and I've said this before, while the prem has a top 6, there are still teams out the top 6 that can be just as strong as the top 6 on their day. Today proves it with 2 of the presumed title favourites losing on the same day. If the prem is not the most competitive league, idk what league is. Finally those that acted like Lyon beating City meant Ligue 1 is not a farm can see that City even with their best player can lose to any team on their day. Can't use City as a measuring stick for the prem cos the prem is unpredictable.
tropicalda
242
16th place Palace turned up to a ground where they’ve lost 5-0 on their last 2 visits & leave with a 3-2 win against a side who finished with 100 points last season. Simultaneously, Chelsea were handed their first home loss under Sarri by Leicester. Welcome to the Premier League.
CharlesMato
219
it's all pep's fault that line up was not convincing at all it took him till almost d end of d game to bring on de bruyne and he shld have subbed Gabriel Jesus first but at least Chelsea also lost so I'm not all dat angry we can still win d title after all dis is not d first time Liverpool has been dis close to winning d title only to lose it to us at d end let's see how dis season goes on its just 4 points 2 wins for us and 2 loss for Liverpool and we are back on top
tetmouy
209
Now that Pep and his boys have been shown in no unmistakable terms that they're not invincible, even playing a team considered far weaker than the top ten, I am cocksure Man City are going to win the league this season. It's to City's advantage that they're having their patchy runs earlier than Liverpool's; because the Reds are surely going to go through theirs pretty soon. And that's when they're going to hand the advantage over to City.
jyt
198
Damn....! How are the mighty fallen! When I tuned in and saw the scoreline, I was dumbfounded. I couldn't believe it. But I knew City aren't a team you just beat the living daylights out of in their home, so I believed that they would go down, yes, but not at 3-1. As the commentator aptly described City's Palace defeat, "the greatest surprise of the campaign". So true. But not being the only surprise, Chelsea also went down to Leicester City, and now this is the time to feel really good being a Liverpool fan. But Manchester United... Have got to take advantage of the slip-ups. The cards are all in their favor now. And now Mourinho's no longer in charge... Solskjaer, Pogba and Co., don't let us down.
XtremeCity
174
That was a shocking loss😮. We need to up our defence or we won’t be able to compete with Liverpool. The way we conceded goals was just reckless from the defenders. Lesson to learn from this game, don’t fly too high on past glories. Hope we come back stronger.
KingDave10
163
Liverpool fans right now (me included) [Bear][Bear]
mubblmpyz
156
l think the team struggling for survival are more difficult to overcome
Posanpsz
148
Pep is making unnecessary experiments. Delph is a midfielder not a defender, stones is a defender not a midfielder. He is flying high and taking opponents so lightly. It will cost him. Also this squad is overloaded with useless stars. so disappointed
Mosanya
143
Manchester City before the game and after the game
Sarang Nair
140
Liverpool fans right now!
Bamcikl
127
title now widely opened, liverpool just need to improve and improve on, first need to defeat man city in upcoming fixture and then do is to play safe game, no hush no rush, they are 4 point clear and a victory over man city will probably make them title holder
couacuyz
115
This result is the fault of Guardiola. First of all why didn’t he just started with de Bruyne and Aguero. And second why the hell did he put Jones on the midfield, that’s just crazy. Jones on the midfield took all the creativity and speed out of City’s play.
keaiae
107
Top of the League Four points clear City lost Chelsea lost What a day. Merry Christmas Liverpool
tropicalda
78
What’s impressive about this match is that Manchester City never looked like a scoring a goal from the first minute. Impeccable setup by Hodgson, marking the wings and crowding his half in the middle rather than pointlessly sitting deep. Palace had four shots, three goals and hit the post. Complete meltdown by City’s backline, most shocking result of the season so far. City doesn’t look like scoring one, let alone three. Lyon have revealed a glaring flaw at Pep’s Manchester City, team looks lost when pressed inside the opponent’s half, gives them a fighting chance waiting for backline mistakes.
educatione
44
wtf I must be dreaming