Phil Foden masterclass sinks Palace to keep Man City’s title dream alive

Manchester City kept the pressure firmly on Arsenal in the Premier League title race after a comfortable 3-0 victory over Crystal Palace at the Etihad Stadium tonight.

Pep Guardiola’s side moved back to within two points of the league leaders with the win, ensuring the title battle will continue into the final week of the campaign.

The City manager rotated heavily ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup final against Chelsea, leaving Erling Braut Haaland, Jeremy Doku and Rayan Cherki on the bench from the start.

City still proved too strong for a Palace side whose focus increasingly appears to be on their upcoming Europa Conference League final.

The hosts initially looked short of rhythm following Guardiola’s six alterations, but Phil Foden eventually sparked the game into life with a superb creative display.

City opened the scoring midway through the first half when Foden produced a brilliant backheel to release Antoine Semenyo through on goal.

The Ghana international finished clinically past Dean Henderson to hand City a deserved lead and end his recent scoring drought.

Palace briefly threatened a response moments later when Tyrick Mitchell struck powerfully from distance, but Gianluigi Donnarumma reacted sharply to push the effort away.

City doubled their advantage before the break through Omar Marmoush after another moment of quality from Foden.

The England international slipped a clever pass into Marmoush inside the box. The Egyptian forward spun before crashing his finish beyond Henderson for his eighth goal of the season.

Foden, making only his third start in City’s last 13 matches, delivered one of his best performances in recent months and looked far sharper than he has during much of the second half of the campaign.

Guardiola will also have been encouraged by the return of Josko Gvardiol, who made his first appearance since January after recovering from a broken shinbone.

The Croatian defender nearly marked his comeback with a goal, but Henderson produced an excellent save to deny his header.

Palace struggled to create sustained pressure after the interval, although substitute Ismaila Sarr forced Donnarumma into another save shortly after coming on.

City remained in control throughout the second half and eventually added a third goal late on through Savinho to complete a convincing evening.

The Brazilian attacker finished smartly after City sliced through Palace’s defence once again during the closing stages.

Guardiola’s side have now matched Arsenal on games played with two fixtures remaining and are firmly in the hunt for the Premier League title.

Palace have now gone five league matches without a win and are 15th in the table, although their Europa Conference League final against Rayo Vallecano is the clear priority.