4-0 sounds so much more worse than 1-0, yet today’s display at the Etihad was by several volumes better than the appalling showing on Tuesday. Palace played quite well for the first hour against a City team that exhibited nerves and surprisingly did not dominate possession as they usually do against us. One old failing and one new undid us: the old favourite of lacking scoring options cost us once again; while Wayne Hennessey again gave us a goalkeeping error. At the end City were comfortable, as Chelsea were earlier this month, but only after a battle. So it’s not all doom & gloom... although it was a long, cold & soggy tramp back to Piccadilly.
Pardew made one change from the XI that had performed so ineptly at Villa Park, perhaps betraying a lack of faith in the fringe squad members, with Wickham, who at least pepped the side up when coming on as sub on Tuesday, replacing the injured Sako up front. City’s team was chock full of expensive stars but still had the option of Yaya Touré on the bench. City chose an attacking 4-4-2 formation, which actually worked in Palace’s favour, as not only was there a little extra space in the middle, but we also outnumbered Delph & Fernando, and our midfield had a pretty good first half. De Bruyne & Silva were manageable on the flanks while there was little supply reaching Aguero or Iheanacho. The problem came up front where although Wickham bossed Otamendi in the continued absence of Kompany, he was often isolated. Still City looked vulnerable at set pieces where palace could – should – have taken advantage.
We really should have taken the lead inside a couple of minutes, just as at Villa. A set piece broke down but Wickham ended up on the left wing and produced an excellent cross; Delaney met it about 10 yards out and had the whole goal to aim at – unfortunately he not only headed it straight at Hart but didn’t get much power on it, so the keeper knocked it wide. Damien should have scored. From a later corner Dann’s header was blocked and Wickham volley over. City were doing very little and Ledley was having a fine game in the middle. I can’t recall a serious effort on goal until Delph took aim 30 yards out; it was a good strong shot but Hennessey somehow dived over the ball. Palace responded strongly, with a strange moment occurring when Hart’s attempted clearance from hand was blocked and Delaney put the ball narrowly wide.
Palace’s next chance came from a free kick in that same area of the pitch that Puncheon beat Hart from at Selhurst last season. Punch lined up again but it was Cabaye whose shot went to the same bottom corner, only to be pushed wide by the keeper. It was at that point that Aguero, who had been relatively quiet, became a factor. He had squeezed one shot across the goal from a prone position, then took aim from just outside the box: Dann attempted to flick the ball wide with his head but just succeeded in diverting the ball out of Hennessey’s reach but inside the near post. It could have been worse if Delaney had not blocked another Aguero effort, and the forward not curled a late effort just over. We were 2-0 down when with luck – and unkindly suggesting swapping keepers – might have seen us ahead or level at worse.
Palace were good at the restart as well but without creating any clear-cut chances. It might be pushing it to say Pellegrini was so worried that he switched to a five-man midfield withdrawing a striker for that untested youngster Touré, who does have a worryingly good record against Palace. Zaha, booed by the home crowd for his Old Trafford links, was getting slightly more change out of sub Clichy after Kolarov went off injured, did set Ward up for an effort but it was put wide. At that point Pardew withdrew Wickham, I guess because of match fitness concerns, as the choice of the far less mobile Chamakh almost indicated we’d given up hope of scoring. A mistake from a throw-in in our half – I think Cabaye lost the ball – saw City pass their way through the defence to give Aguero an open net for the third. To be fair it took about £150m of talent to create & score that.
The game was now over and City could relax, Palace’s plight aggravated by an appalling dive in the box by Chamakh, for which he was rightly booked. Cabaye came close with a swerving effort that beat Hart but hit the stanchion behind the goal, but Palace’s luck was summed up when City scored the 4th from our free kick, Souaré not dealing with the clearance leaving two City attackers – only those plodders Aguero & Silva – facing Ward on his own, and the outcome was certain long before Silva scored at leisure. Cabaye then committed two spiteful bad fouls in the dying minutes, the first of which was booked, the second in stoppage time let go by lenient referee Moss – probably the only poor decision he made all game – he even allowed only two minutes stoppage time, well aware of train times back to Euston! Yes, City were comfortable at the end, but it was a lot closer than the scoreline suggests.
Hennessey – 5 – Poor old Wayne, drops another clanger (poor technique when diving for low shots?) then doesn’t have an opportunity to make amends as City only have another 3 shots on target, which were the goals where he had no chance.
Ward – 6 – Decent at the back where he worked hard; did miss one reasonable chance at 2-0.
Souaré – 6 – Another who played well, but think it was his loose throw that led to the third goal, and slip that led to the fourth.
Dann – 7 – Had the easier task of marking Iheanacho, who really only escaped him once, and unlucky with the deflection for the second goal. Always dangerous at set pieces.
Delaney – 6 – Defensively good, especially with a block on Aguero late in the second half, but really should have done so much better with that early headed chance.
Ledley – 7 – Fine game in central midfield where he appeared more mobile than of late. Strong in defence and made a number of good short passes.
Cabaye – 6 – Fine first hour, denied by Hart in the first half and just wide in the second. Later on grew frustrated, perhaps due to his role in their third goal, and escaped a red card by the skin of his teeth. Why dive in over the top in the first of two minutes stoppage time when you’ve just been booked?
McArthur – 7 – One of the reasons why Palace remained in the game for an hour was the hard work in midfield of Cabaye, Ledley & in particular McArthur.
Puncheon – 6 – Frustrated as usual by giving the ball away cheaply but also played some excellent passes, while his corners were far better than usual. Less influential in the second half after City rejigged their formation and Palace lost heart & cohesion after the third goal and the substitutions.
Zaha – 6 – Far better than at Villa. Although he still too often concedes possession by running into trouble, today he made more breaks and also fought harder for the ball. Second half he looked like he might unlock City’s defence down our right, especially after Kolarov went off, but then the game slipped away.
Wickham – 7 – Fine individual performance but it didn’t make much of an impact on the match itself as he was too often isolated. Demichelis & especially Otamendi found it difficult against him, but he never really had a chance on goal. Fine cross to set up Delaney though.
Chamakh – 4 – Added little except two dives, indicating a player lacking confidence.
Mutch – N/A – Very late sub into a losing team and had no opportunity to shine.
Lee Chung-yong – N/A – Even later sub, unfair to mark him.
(PHOTO CREDIT: @Sebastian1906)