PLAYER RATINGS
KASPER SCHMEICHEL: Made two fine saves with his feet in the first half and caught the crosses he needed to. For the first goal he was wrong-footed by the ricochet, while he was helpless for the second 6/10
TIMOTHY CASTAGNE: He’s one of the few City players not making mistakes right now. In yet another solid showing, he defended Zaha really well, reading his runs and showing speed and strength to cut out the passes to Palace’s talisman 7/10
CAGLAR SOYUNCU: Timed his interceptions well at times and won plenty of headers, but was guilty of being dragged out of position, leading to Palace chances. His passing was hit and miss 5/10
JANNIK VESTERGAARD: He was positioned well to clear some crosses, and switched play to Castagne once or twice, but otherwise his passing was aimless and his one-on-one defending statuesque as Palace players dribbled around him with ease 4/10
RYAN BERTRAND: Too slow to react at times, and a lazy foul got him an early booking. He looked uncomfortable defensively a lot of the time, although a little unfortunate with the ricochet for the first goal 4/10
ADEMOLA LOOKMAN: He produced a sublime piece of skill in the first half to flick the ball over Mitchell’s head, while his footwork was pretty good throughout. He wasn’t as effective in the final third as he has been recently though 6/10
HAMZA CHOUDHURY: He started brightly, running with energy, snapping at heels and reading passing lines well to intercept. But then his first appearance of the season turned sour, with his own passing shoddy, and he was subbed after an hour 5/10
YOURI TIELEMANS: One nice dinked pass to Barnes for the second goal saved what was a hopeless first half in which he gave the ball away countless times. He improved in the second period, but a lack of energy meant he could not dictate the play 4/10
HARVEY BARNES: Played a nice pass for Vardy’s goal, and got back to defend well, but nothing else went right for the winger, who continually lost the ball when carrying it forward 5/10
KELECHI IHEANACHO: On his birthday, and on his first Premier League start of the season, he was City’s star man. Scored the first goal entirely by himself by showing intensity to press then coolness to finish, while showed off brilliant close control to create chances for others. It begs the question: why has it taken this long for him to start? 8/10
JAMIE VARDY: He was barely involved in the first half, but took his goal incredibly well, deceiving Guaita to stick the ball in at the near post. In the second half, he carried the ball well to try to reduce the pressure on City’s back-line 6/10
SUBSTITUTES
BOUBAKARY SOUMARE: 6/10
JAMES MADDISON: 6/10
MARC ALBRIGHTON: 5/10