The way things have been going for Pep Guardiola, this could have been much worse. With his side having twice fallen behind to a Crystal Palace side brimming with renewed confidence, the Manchester City manager saw Erling Haaland end his mini drought with a 13th Premier League goal of the season before Rico Lewis equalised again to end the losing run of five successive away matches.
Even if this was another afternoon to forget for the underperforming Kyle Walker, whose mistakes helped Daniel Muñoz and Maxence Lacroix establish the lead, City will be thankful to have emerged with something after Lewis was shown a second yellow card in the later stages.
Guardiola had looked lost in thought after heading straight for the dugout on his arrival 90 minutes before kick-off, just like he had done at Anfield before the defeat by Liverpool last Sunday.
The City manager said in his pre-match interview that his side would “have to adapt as quick as possible with a good mentality” after injuries to defenders Nathan Aké and Manuel Akanji forced them to miss the trip to south London. But when Lacroix headed in a corner from Will Hughes just before the hour mark, he must have feared the worst after ending their run of six games without a win against Nottingham Forest in midweek.
Guardiola will be disappointed City could not see off Palace after Lewis – who filled at left-back in the absence of Aké – curled home the equaliser before seeing red, although there were signs they have rediscovered at least some of their lustre in attack.
The defence, and in particular Walker in a week when City travel to face Juventus in the Champions League on Wednesday before the Manchester derby next Sunday, remains a major concern, however.
On another day Palace could have claimed a second straight victory if they had taken their chances. They had scored fewer home goals than any other team in the Premier League this season, four, but it took less than four minutes to find the breakthrough against a defence clearly lacking in cohesion and confidence.
Walker was guilty of playing Muñoz onside after he was picked out by a through ball from Hughes and the Colombian slotted home the second goal of his Palace career after the late equaliser against Newcastle here last week.
Only Dean Henderson’s head prevented City hitting straight back when Haaland raced on to Kevin De Bruyne’s pass. But playing with Ilkay Gündogan and Bernardo Silva as the double pivot always leaves them open to danger and a poor pass from Rúben Dias that was miscontrolled by the Germany midfielder almost allowed Palace in for a second, with Ismaïla Sarr blazing over the crossbar from the corner that resulted.
Gündogan was extremely unfortunate to strike a post with a brilliant instinctive volley from the edge of the area but Savinho could not convert the rebound.
Palace should have made them pay when Lewis lost the ball to Muñoz and Jean-Philippe Mateta set up Jefferson Lerma inside the area, only for Dias to come to his side’s rescue with a timely block – one of several the Portuguese made during the first half.
The importance of that moment was underlined when Haaland rose above Marc Guéhi to head in a deep Matheus Nunes cross on the half-hour mark, his first goal since the loss at Brighton last month.
A swirling wind made conditions far from ideal, although City looked far more assured in possession with De Bruyne back pulling the strings. But when Silva gave the ball away to Hughes and City were forced to concede a corner 11 minutes after the break, once again it was Walker who was caught napping. The England defender was outmuscled and Lacroix powered his header in from point-blank range.
The Premier League champions Manchester City will begin their 2025 Club World Cup campaign with a match against Wydad AC at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on 18 June. City, who won the most recent Club World Cup in 2023 under the old format, will take on Al Ain four days after their opener, before facing Juventus in their final Group G game on 26 June. Chelsea, meanwhile, will face Club León for their first group-stage match on 16 June at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. The London club then take on Flamengo on 20 June and Esperance on 24 June. Both of those Group D matches will be staged in Philadelphia. Reuters
Guardiola looked concerned but, much to his relief, his side were level again when Lewis curled home at the end of a brilliant passing sequence involving De Bruyne and Silva. Savinho and Haaland came close to sealing victory for City, with a full-stretch save denying the Brazilian’s deflected effort.
Lewis was given his marching orders for a late lunge on Trevoh Chalobah that will only add to Guardiola’s headaches at the back.
