Crystal Palace 0-2 Man City: Paving the way to the throne

Just one rare mistake from Steven Gerrard, Liverpool suffered a bitter defeat against Chelsea, and faced many potential dangers on the way to the finish line.

Man City is full of opportunities to usurp Liverpool's throne

GOAL

Man City: Dzeko (4'), Yaya Toure (43')

VIDEO: Crystal Palace 0-2 Man City

FIRST ATTACK

Before entering round 36, Man City was the best team to attack first in the Premier League, with 16 goals scored in the first 15 minutes of the match. In the recent match against Crystal Palace, that strength continued to be promoted by coach Manuel Pellegrini and his team. They surrounded the opponent's goal right after the opening whistle and did not take much time to concretize their advantage. A delicate pass from Yaya Toure, along with an accurate header from Edin Dzeko sent the ball flying into the net when the match had just entered the 4th minute.

Yaya Toure was the factor that made the biggest difference between Man City last night and the previous matches. The Ivorian's return from injury has brought new life to the midfield. Against Crystal Palace, Man City completely dominated the midfield. They almost did not give the opponent any chance. Learning from the disastrous 2-2 draw with Sunderland on April 17, coach Pellegrini's team blocked the opponent's counter-attacks very well. As soon as they lost the ball, Man City midfielders immediately dropped back to join the defense. Thanks to that, goalkeeper Joe Hart only had to block the ball twice in the whole match.

With such a tight and precise dominance, it was no surprise that Man City decided the match in the first half. Two minutes before the break, Yaya Toure scored to put Man City up 2-0 and this was also the final result of the match.

FLAG IN MAN CITY'S HANDS

Defeating Crystal Palace 2-0, Man City is still only in 3rd place on the rankings. However, coach Manuel Pellegrini and his team are the ones holding the biggest advantage in the race to the Premier League championship 2013/14. Currently, Man City is 3 points behind the leader Liverpool, but has played 1 less match. If they beat Aston Villa in the make-up match on May 8, Man City will equalize points with Liverpool, and also have a better secondary index. At the end of round 36 of the Premier League, Liverpool's goal difference is +50, while Man City's is +58. That 8-goal gap will be very difficult to level when there are only 2 rounds left in the season. Now the flag is in the hands of coach Pellegrini and his team and this is an opportunity for them to recreate the comeback of the 2011/12 season.

The 2-0 victory over Crystal Palace not only brought an advantage but also demonstrated the strength of the blue team of Manchester. After a period of ups and downs, Man City has risen with sharp, precise but also disciplined playing style. That is what fans expect from Man City in the finishing stage. The door to the top of glory is open and the task of Pellegrini and his team is not to stumble on the last steps when approaching the throne.

LINEUP

Crystal Palace: Speroni; Mariappa, Dann, Delaney, Ward; Jedinak, Ledley; Puncheon, Chamakh (Gayle, 69'), Bolasie (Ince, 73'); Jerome (Murray, 69').

Man City: Hart; Zabaleta, Kompany, Demichelis, Kolarov; Javi Garcia, Yaya Toure (Fernandinho, 66'); Milner, Aguero (Jovetic, 79'), Nasri; Dzeko (Negredo, 88').

According to Bongdaplus