Man City 3-0 Crystal PalaceDavid Silva 49
David Silva 61
Yaya Toure 81
Three weeks after trailing Chelsea by nine points, Manchester City have caught José Mourinho’s men with only the latter’s superior goal difference keeping them ahead in a championship race that is warming up nicely.
On 29 November Chelsea stood on 33 points and City 24 in what seemed a moment when the west London club might gallop off into the distance with this season’s crown, albeit that they had played a game more. Instead, as predicted by Manuel Pellegrini in that Cool-Hand Luke managerial style of his, City have reeled in Chelsea, though Monday evening’s visit to Stoke City is a game in hand that could re-establish a three-point margin.
As with their campaign thus far, this was a contest that the champions grew into and by the close, when James Milner raced upfield to set up Yaya Touré for a fifth strike in eight games – the finish pin-balling off the right-hand post – City had a third, and were coasting.
With no Sergio Agüero, Edin Dzeko and Stevan Jovetic Pellegrini decided to fill the frontline striker void with Milner. Would he be a false No9 or would the City No7 be a traditional centre-forward? The answer seemed to be the latter, though as with all modern attacking players Milner drifted in and out of midfield pockets.
The contest had a scrappy opening during which Palace saw as much of the ball as City. Yannick Bolasie was among the brighter visitors, the DR Congo forward’s pace along the left troubling the champions.
Joe Hart, in a first outing since signing a deal tying him to the club until 2019, had to deal with a low Bolasie drive before the 25-year-old fashioned an overhead kick that went only marginally wide.
City’s class offers the impression that against an opponent of Palace’s ilk they can create chances at will. In Samir Nasri, the hero of the 2-0 Champions League triumph at Roma, Pellegrini has a player who has recently stepped up his game, adding a muscular presence to his dainty skills. The Frenchman might have scored when the outstanding Pablo Zabaleta found him – but in pivoting his body the attempt went awry – and was soon getting in behind Palace to turn the ball into the danger area.
Touré is another City man whose form is hitting a majestic vein. Twice the Ivorian produced sublime flicks, the second of which sand-wedged the ball into Aleksandar Kolarov for the left-back to cross.
The stereotypical Neil Warnock side hit long balls into the area and hope to profit from a knockdown and, though Bolasie’s on-the-deck trickery belied this at times, a few hail marys were aimed at Hart’s goal. When Kolarov was booked for a foul on Jason Puncheon, Martin Kelly hoofed the ball from inside his half to near City’s six-yard box, Brede Hangeland headed on and Bolasie was on the end of it to go close to opening the scoring.
As half-time neared there had been had been passages of insipid fare, which caused frustration in home ranks. A Touré ball hit straight out when hew as hoping to find Zabaleta was met with near anger but the midfielder was about to redeem himself. Zabaleta, who rarely has a bad moment never mind outing, made a clever run into the area and Touré slide-rule pass was placed into his run. The right-back flipped it over Julián Speroni expertly but the ball rolled just the wrong side of the right post.
The instruction may gone out from Pellegrini that the tempo should be heightened and that his team needed to be more ruthless in the second half. Nasri, Kolarov and Silva made pretty shapes near the left corner flag and the Frenchman went on a run that took him to the opposing flank before the move fizzled out.
Then, finally, the match had a goal. It derived from the slow-slow-quick-quick stuff that has made City so successful. Touré pea-rolled the ball to Fernandinho who, after a glance ahead, zipped in possession to Zabaleta and when the Argentinian reversed it back to Silva he scored, the finish deflecting off Scott Dann.
The Spanish schemer’s third league goal was jubilantly received by Pellegrini and City fans. Now their side were level on points with Chelsea, and there was a platform on which to try to reduce or even catch their goal difference, still superior by three.
Silva’s first arrived on 49 minutes. His second came just past the hour. This was a throwback of a move that involved a simple yet devastating Kolarov cross to Silva, whose instant shot allowed Speroni little chance.
James McArthur appeared to have a goal wrongly disallowed for offside, which if it had stood could have given City a nervy final few minutes, but Pellegrini’s team deserved what ended as their eighth win on the bounce.
Now, it is over to the Britannia Stadium to see if Chelsea can beat Stoke and once again take the lead on points.
