Townsend’s 78mph rocket bursts Pep’s bubble as City crash to defeat
Guardiola experiment backfires as Palace stun champions at Etihad
Man City 2
Gundogan 27, De Bruyne 85
C Palace 3
Schlupp 33, Townsend 35, Milivojevic 51 (pen)
FOR once, Pep Guardiola was like a gambler who put on black and it came up red. We’re used to heaping praise on the brilliant Manchester City manager but on this occasion he got it wrong.
The experiment of playing John Stones in midfield backfired and was abandoned after 50 minutes.
The decision to put Sergio Aguero and Kevin De Bruyne on the bench looked daft as Palace raced into a half-time lead as the star men watched on glumly.
The brave ploy of playing his most advanced midfielder, Ilkay Gundogan, beyond Palace’s holding midfielder Luka Milivojevic looked genius when the German fired City ahead, not so clever when Palace’s counter-attacking tore the champions apart later on in the game.
If Roy Hodgson was the biggest winner from his side’s most unexpected victory, Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool isn’t far behind. His side are now four points ahead in the Premier League title race after 18 games each. The clash between the two titans at the Etihad Stadium on January 3 takes on even greater significance now.
City had won all their previous home league games this season and Guardiola had never been beaten at the Etihad to a team outside the Big Six.
No wonder Palace boss Hodgson described his side’s success as ‘one of those bonanza days’ after their first victory at City for exactly 28 years when Ian Wright was among the scorers.
He admitted: ‘We travelled up thinking we could give a good performance but knew that getting something g out of the game would uld be a tough ask. k. City have a strong team and a strong bench. When you run through their weaknesses, they don’t have many.’
Guardiola was as gracious to Hodgson son as they shook hands ands at the final whistle but a little prickly when asked about his lineup. ‘When you win, you’re a selection genius. When you lose, not so good,’ he said. ‘We accept that but Palace scored the first time they were in our half and then with a wonder goal.’
The first chink of light for Palace came when the City teamsheet showed that Fernandinho had joined Benjamin Mendy and David Silva on the injured list.
Stones was given the task of playing in midfield but his first action was to give the ball away to Milivojevic after attempting a risky dribble.
It didn’t seem significant as City’s traditional fast start was rewarded with the opening goal after 27 minutes. Fabian Delph crossed brilliantly from the left and Gundogan timed his run behind Mamadou Sakho to head past Vicente Guaita from eight yards. An avalanche of City goals was expected to follow but instead Palace hit back with a stunning one-two. In the 3rd minute, Stones attempted to tackle James McArthur but diverted the ball with his outstretched leg to Jeffrey Schlupp on the edge of the box. From there, Kyle Walker stood off the Palace player and he cleverly bent a finish into Ederson’s bottom corner.
Palace then stunned City fans into silence by taking the lead in their next attack. Aymeric Laporte’s initial clearance was headed on by Bernardo Silva to Andros Townsend 30 yards out. There seemed little danger until the Palace winger seized the chance with an outrageous leftfoot volley that flew past Ederson like an Exocet into the top corner.
‘An incredible goal,’ said Guardiola. Townsend is collating his own personal goal of the season competition with some incredible strikes but this was special.
Guardiola sent on his first big gun, Aguero, after 50 minutes with Nicolas Otamendi withdrawn and Stones pushed into defence. However, before the Argentine could make an impact alongside Gabriel Jesus, Palace went 3-1 up. Townsend hit the post with a header and Walker lunged in on Max Meyer as they chased the rebound. Walker looked unhappy as the referee pointed to the spot but Milivojevic dispatched the penalty with his normal aplomb.
‘Andros scoring with a towering header, that would have been the icing on the cake,’ purred Hodgson, who enjoyed a famous win at City a decade ago when he helped save Fulham from relegation.
Only at 3-1 down did Guardiola send on De Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez, aware that he’d rushed the Belgian back too early from another knee injury earlier in the season. De Bruyne did pull a goal back with five minutes left with an intended cross to the far post that deceived Guaita. ‘It was a little too late,’ said Guardiola. The last few minutes were tough going for Palace. But in the pouring rain, the Londoners deserved to complete the biggest Premier League shock since Huddersfield defeated Manchester United.
Guardiola managed to give Hodgson a gracious smile at the end. ‘This happens in football,’ said the City boss. ‘You just say “Wow!” We have played against similar teams defending deep and we have killed the game.’
On an unhappy afternoon for Stones, Guardiola said: ‘ Give credit to the people who adapt to positions they are not used to.’ He avoided Walker at full-time after a nightmare for the right back. He failed to close down Schlupp and then conceded a penalty, but Guardiola tried to lift his spirits afterwards. ‘Everybody is involved in that, not just Kyley,’ he said.