Jason Puncheon (L) celebrates his superb free kick that sent Crystal Palace to a 2-1 win. (Getty)
Manchester City’s slim English Premier League title hopes are all but over now as Crystal Palace secured a 2-1 win on Monday night. Goals from Glenn Murray and Jason Puncheon scored goals either side of halftime before Yaya Toure pulled one back in the 78th minute.
City dominated the first 45 minutes to the tune of 73 percent possession and a 10-3 edge in shots, but couldn’t break down the Palace defense and create meaningful opportunities. The pattern continued into the second half until the final 20 minutes when the visitors turned up the heat.
By the time that happened, Crystal Palace had a 2-0 lead.
Manchester City had a penalty shout in the 70th in the as Glenn Murray appeared to have handled the ball inside the box, but no call was made.
Moments after, James McArthur made a stunning clearance over his own goal to deny a shot from going in. Toure’s superb strike cut the lead to 2-1 with 12 minutes remaining.
Crystal Palace hung on for dear life in the final minutes, with Julian Speroni called into action multiple times. But the four minutes of injury time passed and the Eagles held on for their third straight EPL victory. The defeat was the fourth straight on the road in all competitions for City.
The result sends Palace to 11th in the league on 39 points and keeps Manchester City in fourth on 61 points. For more match stats, click here.
Glenn Murray Scores to Give Crystal Palace 1-0 Lead
In the 34th minute, Murray remained just offside and scored a goal to give Palace the lead. The goal was Murray’s fifth in five BPL matches for the 31-year-old. Scott Dann may have been offside in the buildup, though.
Jason Puncheon Fires Free Kick to Give Crystal Palace 2-0 Lead
The home side doubled their lead right after halftime with a superb free kick from Puncheon in the 48th minute.
Puncheon Was Struck In The Face By Object
Fifteen minutes after scoring his goal, Puncheon lined up to deliver a corner kick before an object flew towards his face.
Yaya Toure Scores For Manchester City, Cuts Lead to 2-1
Add another incredible goal to this weekend’s action. Toure scores from outside the box in the 78th minute to cut the Crystal Palace lead to 2-1.
Stats
Goals: Crystal Palace- Glenn Murray (37′), Jason Puncheon (48’); Manchester City- Yaya Toure (78′)
Shots (on goal): Crystal Palace- 5(3); Manchester City- 22(4)
Tackles: Crystal Palace- 24; Manchester City- 23
Fouls: Crystal Palace- 11; Manchester City- 11
Possession: Crystal Palace- 26%; Manchester CIty- 74%
Yellow Cards: Damien Delaney (40’), Jason Puncheon (57’), Martin Demichelis (68’).
Lineups
Crystal Palace: Speroni, Ward, Delaney, Dann, Kelly, McArthur, Ledley, Puncheon, Zaha, Bolaise, Murray
Bench: Hennessey, Hangeland, Souare, Boateng, Sanogo, Gayle, Ameobi
Manchester City: Hart, Sagna, Kompany, Demichelis, Clichy, Navas, Fernandinho, Toure, Silva, Dzeko, Aguero
Bench: Caballero, Zabaleta, Mangala, Fernando, Milner, Nasri, Lampard
Preview: Crystal Palace & Manchester City battle at Selhurst Park
Yaya Toure returns to the lineup for City after missing the last game with an Achilles injury. Manager Manuel Pellegrini has a full team to choose from with no other injury concerns. For Crystal Palace, Mile Jedinak is suspended while Fraizer Campbell, Marouane Chamakh and Jordon Mutch are all injured.
Alan Pardew, who is seeing a sports psychologist to corral his temperament on the sideline. has done wonders with Crystal Palace over the second half of the season, taking the team out of relegation trouble and into 12th place.
Manchester City is 24-14-13 all time against Palace, including winning the last seven straight meetings and four straight clean sheets. Palace is searching for its highest league finishing position since 1991-1992, when the Eagles finished 10th. Last season they finished 11th.