Manchester City 0 Crystal Palace 1: City player ratings as Manchester City go down at Wembley | OneFootball

Manchester City 0

Crystal Palace 1 (Eberechi Eze 16′)

Here are the City player ratings as Manchester City went down to a 1-nil defeat to Crystal Palace at Wembley. There were plenty of surprises in the Manchester City starting lineup when both teams’ starting lineups were announced. It appeared that Pep Guardiola had gone for an attacking approach. Erling Haaland, Omar Marmoush, Jeremy Doku, Savinho and Kevin De Bruyne all started for Manchester City. City’s lineup looked light on midfield options. But the expectation was that Nico O’Reilly or Manuel Akanji would step into midfield when required.

First half

After the usual pleasantries and pre-game entertainment, the game kicked off at Wembley bathed in sunshine. In the game’s opening 5 minutes, there was a crispness to City’s possession play. Although their first misplaced pass of note came from Kevin De Bruyne. But looking at the Crystal Palace setup, they were looking to defend deep and hit City on the counter.

In the 6th minute, the game’s first chance came. Kevin De Bruyne played in a quality ball from the right, and Erling Haaland’s diving finish was well saved by Dean Henderson in the Palace goal. But Pep Guardiola’s side had started the game well and were looking up for the occasion.

Josko Gvardiol would be denied in the 12th minute. A quality Savinho corner found Gvardiol unmarked near the six-yard box, and his header was punched away by Dean Henderson. But Manchester City were playing well against a Crystal Palace side that looked overawed by the occasion in the FA Cup final’s early stages.

Eberechi Eze gives Crystal Palace the lead.

Despite Manchester City’s early dominance, it would be Crystal Palace that would take the lead in the 16th minute. A long ball from Dean Henderson from deep found Jean-Phillpe Mateta. He kept hold of the ball with some sublime centre-forward play. Eventually, the ball found Daniel Munoz in acres of space down City’s left-hand side. He played in a quality ball, and Eberechi Eze beat Stefan Ortega to give Crystal Palace the lead. Watching the goal back a second time, Nico O’Reilly was unaware of the danger outside of him, and Manchester City paid the price.

Stefan Ortega denied Ismaila Sarr in the 19th minute after another dangerous cross from Daniel Munoz found him in the City penalty area. Crystal Palace were having joy attacking down City’s left-hand side.

Dean Henderson is lucky to stay on the pitch.

In the 23rd minute, a major talking point unfolded. Erling Haaland was played in by a long ball behind the Palace defence. Dean Henderson got the ball away from Haaland on the edge of the Palace penalty area. But on closer inspection, Henderson looked to have deliberately handled the ball outside the area. But after a VAR check, the game was allowed to continue, and Henderson stayed on the pitch. That decision would surely be a talking point throughout the game. The image below paints the picture of the incident.

In the 33rd minute, Manchester City would win a penalty. A driving Bernardo Silva run saw him get into a dangerous position in the Crystal Palace area. He was fouled by Tyrick Mitchell and Stuart Atwell awarded City a penalty. After a lengthy delay, Omar Marmoush stepped up to take the penalty, but it was saved by Dean Henderson down to his right. In truth, it was a poor penalty from Marmoush. My question is: Why didn’t Erling Haaland take the penalty?

In the 43rd minute, Jeremy Doku was denied by a fine save by Dean Henderson. Doku cut in from the left wing and hit a quality strike at goal. But Henderson made a good save to preserve Crystal Palace’s lead.

Crystal Palace would take a 1-nil lead into the interval. It was a half that wasn’t short of talking points, but the biggest was the lack of a red card for Dean Henderson. That had the potential to be match-defining as the game entered halftime.

Second half

Manchester City began the second half full of intent. Two quality Savinho crosses created havoc in the Palace penalty area, but no goal. But the Brazilian international looked up for the second half.

Crystal Palace looked to have doubled their lead, but VAR got a decision right.

In the 58th minute, a Daniel Muñoz strike seemed to have given Crystal Palace a 2-nil lead. The goal came from a long throw and the ball fell into Munoz’s path, who tapped in to seemingly make it 2-nil. But after a VAR check, Ismaila Sarr had strayed into an offside position, and the goal was ruled out.

From that point on, nothing happened for either team. That changed in the 82nd minute when Claudio Echeverri was denied by another Dean Henderson save. A sweeping City counter saw Echeverri played in, but his right-footed strike was hit straight at Dean Henderson. But Manchester City were on the front foot as they had been all game in the game’s closing stages.

The game entered 10 minutes of extra time, and Pep Guardiola’s side needed to lift. That was the equation they had to solve, otherwise they’d lose back-to-back FA Cup finals.

Claudio Echeverri saw a shot saved by Dean Henderson in the 96th minute, but it was a routine save. In truth, Manchester City were in the position they deserved to be in with a few minutes to go.

No equaliser would come for Pep Guardiola’s side. As the final whistle blew,, the Crystal Palace fans, players and staff celebrated the fact that they’d created history. For Manchester City, they had their chances, but it wasn’t their day in a game filled with talking points.

City player ratings

Stefan Ortega-6/10: Could do little about Eze’s goal and had little to do throughout the game.

Manuel Akanji-6/10: A solid performance from Akanji, nothing more.

Ruben Dias-6/10: Had a battle with Jean-Phillpe Mateta, and he did his job.

Josko Gvardiol-6.5/10: Probably Manchester City’s best player on the day.

Nico O’Reilly-5.5/10: Palace targeted City’s left-hand side, and O’Reilly was found wanting for their goal. But he did better after that.

Bernardo Silva-6/10: He earned Manchester City a penalty, but really, it wasn’t his type of game. Gets a standard 6 out of 10 for his effort, more than his impact.

Kevin De Bruyne-5/10: He toiled away, and on occasions, he looked like he could create something for his team. But it wasn’t to be as his last final for Manchester City ended in defeat.

Savinho-6/10: Arguably City’s most dangerous attacking player before he was substituted. Several of his crosses were wasted which wasn’t his fault.

Omar Marmoush-4/10: Not Marmoush’s best performance. Saw his penalty saved and he couldn’t get into the game.

Jeremy Doku-6/10: Often double-marked and didn’t have the impact he’d have liked on the day.

Erling Haaland-4/10: Involved in two of the game’s major talking points. It was his run that caught out Dean Henderson, but VAR didn’t intervene. He also gave up the penalty for Marmoush to take in a perplexing decision. Proved costly and summed up Haaland’s day.

Substitutes

Phil Foden-6/10: Had some nice touches but couldn’t affect the game.

Claudio Echeverri-6.5/10: Showed plenty in his debut for Manchester City. Had a couple of shots saved and looked lively.

Ilkay Gundogan-N/A: Not on long enough to mark.