Blues hit self-destruct as Laporte shown the door in loss
City crash to second defeat of season as defender sees red and Guardiola loses ground on leaders
AYMERIC Laporte hit the self-destruct button to send City plummeting to their first defeat since the opening day of the season.
The Spain defender gifted Wilfried Zaha an early goal and was then sent off just before half time for a professional foul on the same player.
City staged a stirring fightback after the break, but when Gabriel Jesus had a goal disallowed by VAR for a marginal offside in the build-up, it was clearly not going to be City’s day – and that was confirmed when Connor Gallagher finished a Palace counter-attack to wrap up the points.
The omens do not look good for Laporte. He will miss next Saturday’s Old Trafford derby, and John Stones will step up.
At this stage of last season, the Spain international blew up at Tottenham, making errors that led to a defeat, and manager Pep Guardiola axed him from the team.
Stones took full advantage then, and will be aiming to do the same again.
It was an abysmal first half for the Blues, gifting Palace the lead after five minutes, and then rushing into a response that smacked of panic and anxiety, rather than their usual calm, unflustered approach.
Maybe the manner of Wilfried Zaha’s goal was the reason for their fractiousness, with Aymeric Laporte sloppily directing a pass in Ruben Dias’ general direction, but with nowhere near enough precision or pace.
Zaha danced in to touch it to Connor Gallagher, whose sharp return sent the former United man away – his shot was hardly conclusive, but Ederson, who does not always cover himself with glory against low shots, was slow to go down as the ball trundled past him into the corner. Rodri slammed City’s best chance straight at Palace keeper Vicente Guaita, but their response was pock-marked by overhit passes, aimless attempts at innovation, and a tendency to overplay. Jack Grealish did his best to carve something from the left, linking with the buzzsaw figure of Bernardo Silva and Joao Cancelo, but Palace defended with depth and determination and were not in the mood to give up the present given to them by Laporte.
Pep Guardiola responded by swapping the ineffective Phil Foden with Gabriel Jesus, in the hope that the Brazilian could find a yard in the tight penalty area, or Foden could conjure something from the greater spaces on the right.
That didn’t work, but nothing did. Kevin De Bruyne was again in the thick of everything, but his best form is still hanging somewhere in the future, waiting for him to run into it again.
There was no inspiration, no killer passes, no swinging shots from the Belgian, and the Blues were casting around
for inspiration. Just before half time, the desire to bounce back and win the game became a hope that they might scrape a point, after Laporte compounded his early error with another.
Tussling with Zaha, he looked like allowing the Palace man to dash clear, and wrestled him to the ground.
Ref Andre Marriner decided Laporte was the last man, and brandished the red card. City were furious, with a few players looking ready to lose their heads – but a VAR check confirmed the decision, and the Blues were down to ten.
In the aftermath, Bernardo Silva, at the heart of the protests, was booked for a frustrated hack at Zaha, and Ederson quickly followed him for getting involved in a cantankerous dispute between Gabriel Jesus and Zaha.
Guardiola resisted the temptation to bring on another defender at half time, and City went straight onto the attack, despite their numerical disadvantage.
They could have levelled after Grealish teased the defence and then teed up Rodri – unfortunately, it was on the Spain international’s left foot and whistled over the bar.
Guardiola was working overtime with his tactical tweaks, shifting Foden to the left early in the second half.
It seemed to have paid off when Foden expertly pulled a long pass out of the air, cut inside and then chipped a gorgeous pass to the far post, where Jesus leapt to guide a volley inside Guaita’s near post.
But the dreaded VAR intervened, Foden being deemed to be marginally offside when he received the ball.
Guardiola had shied away from bringing on a defender at half time, but he changed his mind on the hour, calling John Stones into the action, as much for his passing ability between the lines as a need to stem Palace’s dangerous counter-attacks.
That worked, and Stones did well enough to justify his inclusion next time round – but right at the death Connor Gallagher finished off another swift Eagles attack to end any hopes of a comeback.