Crystal Palace 0-2 Manchester City: Player ratings as Cityzens cruise to victory

01 May 2021 04:38

Second half goals from Sergio Aguero and Ferran Torres gave Manchester City a comfortable 2-0 win over Crystal Palace on Saturday afternoon, moving the Cityzens onto 80 points at the Premier League summit.

In a drab first half, goalscoring opportunities were few and far between for the most part but Manchester City came closest, even having the ball in the back of the net at one point. Fernandinho's measured ball over the top was volleyed into the roof of the net beautifully by Gabriel Jesus, only for the linesman's flag to correctly halt celebrations.

Gabriel Jesus thought he'd opened the scoring in the first half | Chloe Knott - Danehouse/Getty Images

Pep Guardiola's men eventually found their rhythm after the interval and broke the deadlock on 58 minutes. Benjamin Mendy's inch-perfect ball was controlled brilliantly by Aguero, before the Argentine rifled into the back of the net. It was 2-0 just 84 seconds later, when Torres latched onto a free ball around 20 yards out from goal before clinically curling past Vicente Guaita in the Palace goal.

City controlled possession after doubling their lead and comfortably saw out the 2-0 win, increasing the gap at the top of the table to 13 points and further making a fourth Premier League crown in four years an inevitability. Now, let's get to the player ratings!


Crystal Palace player ratings

1. Goalkeeper & Defenders

Tyrick Mitchell defended well throughout | Clive Rose/Getty Images

Vicente Guaita (GK) - 5/10 - City had three shots on target and Guaita could do very little about two of them. Unlucky to concede two.

Joel Ward (RB) - 6/10 -
Marked his opposite number well throughout. Was quick to press and get out to meet City's wide men but often failed to cut out balls into the box at times.

Cheikhou Kouyate (CB) - 6/10 -
Was on high alert to City's quick passing around the box and did well to make eight interventions.

Scott Dann (CB) - 6/10 -
Stayed strong to runners in behind and positioned himself well in the penalty area, registering five clearances - notably a goal-saving one from underneath the bar after the break.

Tyrick Mitchell (LB) - 7/10 -
Resilient performance at the back, providing crucial cover for his centre backs and making two goal-saving challenges in the first half.

2. Midfielders

Ebere Eze and Jairo Riedewald pressed well | Pool/Getty Images

Luka Milivojevic (DM) - 6/10 - Closed down space and denied City's creative sparks time to good effect but failed to do it incessantly, allowing City to take advantage as time passed by.

Jairo Riedewald (CM) - 6/10 -
Tenacious and energetic with his pressing to stifle forward moves, but wasn't much of a threat at the other end.

Eberechi Eze (CM) - 7/10 -
Read the game brilliantly throughout. Drove the ball upfield slickly and efficiently to make two key passes and tracked back to help his back line, making three ball recoveries.

3. Forwards

Wilf Zaha was frustrated throughout | Pool/Getty Images

Andros Townsend (RW) - 6/10 - Showed great energy, getting up and down the right throughout.

Christian Benteke (ST) - 6/10 -
Held the ball up really well and brought those around him into the game, but couldn't make a nuisance of himself in the box despite his height advantage.

Wilfried Zaha (LW) - 5/10 -
Drove the ball upfield well occasionally, but his final product was lacking and was left deeply frustrated by the excellent Fernandinho. At least he stayed warm in the Brazilian's pocket.

4. Substitutes

Jeff Schlupp (CM) - 6/10

Jean-Philippe Mateta (ST) - 5/10

Jordan Ayew (RW) - N/A

Manchester City player ratings

5. Goalkeeper & Defenders

Benjamin Mendy was excellent going forward | Catherine Ivill/Getty Images

Ederson (GK) - 6/10 - Cool and composed, as you'd expect. Was never really overly troubled and will be pleased with yet another clean sheet.

Joao Cancelo (RB) - 8/10 -
Pretty much stayed beyond the halfway line and did well to break down play, making nine ball recoveries. And, of course, created chances for others.

Nathan Ake (CB) - 6/10 -
Did nothing wrong; did nothing spectacular. A quiet, solid outing.

Aymeric Laporte (CB) - 7/10 -
Played some excellent balls out of defence, often finding teammates in between the lines or Cancelo with a long diagonal and managed two key passes.

Benjamin Mendy (LB) - 8/10 -
Wasn't too concerned with what happened behind him and roamed up the wing to great effect. Put in some fantastic deliveries, notably getting the assist for the opening goal.

6. Midfielders

Ferran Torres deserved his goal | Catherine Ivill/Getty Images

Ferran Torres (RM) - 8/10 - A major threat with intelligent and sharp movement from defenders' blind sides and made four key passes. Got his reward with a beautiful goal to double his side's lead.

Fernandinho (CM) - 8/10 - Often dropped in as a centre back to sure up the back line and did it perfectly, making seven ball recoveries. Frustrated Zaha throughout and stayed firm to any threats that came his way.

Rodri (CM) - 7/10 - An excellent screen, picking up any loose balls that came back into midfield and sprayed the ball around quickly and effectively to keep the side ticking.

Raheem Sterling (LM) - 6/10 - Picked up some good pockets of space throughout the 90 but wasn't able to penetrate Palace's back line and looked deflated at times.

7. Forwards

Sergio Aguero finished brilliantly to make it 1-0 | Catherine Ivill/Getty Images

Gabriel Jesus (ST) - 6/10 - Some nice, quick link-up play in advanced areas but wasn't too much of a threat to Palace. Should have been more alert to stay onside in the build up to his disallowed goal.

Sergio Aguero (ST) - 8/10 -
Floated around nicely and had some lovely inter play with those around him, but the highlight was the fantastically taken opener - his first ever at Selhurst Park.

8. Substitutes

Oleksander Zinchenko (CM) - 7/10

Source: 90min