Aguero scores twice as Man City thrash Palace

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16 Jan 2016

By Shamoon Hafez BSports

Sergio Aguero scored twice as Manchester City closed the gap at the top of the Premier League by thrashing a lacklustre Crystal Palace side.

After a slow start from the hosts, midfielder Fabian Delph gave them the lead with a long-range drive.

Striker Aguero doubled the advantage with an effort that deflected in off the head of defender Scott Dann.

Aguero finished off a sublime team move and David Silva added a fourth, with Palace winless in five league games.

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Pellegrini 'very happy' with Delph

The Eagles could have gone ahead in the first couple of minutes but defender Damien Delaney headed straight at Joe Hart when free inside the area.

Yohan Cabaye went close late on with an effort that flew narrowly wide, but Palace have now failed to score in their past five league games.

Having started the day in third place, City were briefly top after victory over Palace, but were later overtaken by surprise title challengers Leicester who drew 1-1 against Aston Villa.

Relive all the action from Etihad Stadium here
See the reaction from all of Saturday's games

Clinical City signal intent

The £141m goal. Sergio Aguero (10) started the move for the fourth goal and finished it too, with David Silva (21), Yaya Toure (42) and Kevin de Bruyne (17) also getting involved

Manuel Pellegrini's side failed to score against Everton in their last league game, and there were concerns over the form of Aguero going into the game.

But the Argentine - who had scored just once in his past five league games - showed his class at a snowy Etihad Stadium, scoring twice and setting up the impressive Silva for another, as the hosts found the net with all four shots on target.

City's third was particularly special, as four players with a value of £141m combined to score - Aguero starting and finishing a move that also involved Silva, Yaya Toure and Kevin de Bruyne.

The Blues have not been beaten in the league since their 2-1 defeat at Arsenal before Christmas and, with Aguero and Silva hitting their stride after injury, are finding form at just the right time.

Eagles falling rapidly

As recently as 19 December - when Palace beat Stoke - there was talk of Alan Pardew's side challenging for a place in Europe, perhaps even in the Champions League.

Then, they had the same number of points as fourth-placed Tottenham, but an alarming slump has seem them drop to eighth in the table.

This was another game in which they failed to score or take a point. Having made a mistake in their defeat by bottom side Aston Villa in midweek, goalkeeper Hennessey was again at fault for City's opener.

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Loss 'tough to take' for Eagles

Manager Pardew was unhappy with the Welshman's performance - but he has problems at both ends of the field.

Pardew has admitted he needs to bring in a striker in the transfer window, and neither the hard-working Connor Wickham nor the ineffectual Marouane Chamakh forced Hart into a save.

Palace's best chance came in the second minute. Had skipper Delaney scored with his header, it could have been a different story, but their wait for a goal and a point continues.

Man of the match - David Silva

More passes (67) and more touches on the ball (96) than any other player on the pitch, Silva ran the show for City. The Spaniard scored one goal and set one up.

What they said

Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini: "Was it comfortable? No, because you never know in this game. The first half, the two goals gave us more space as they've had to go for the draw. That allowed us to use that space and score two more."

Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew on the performance of goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey: "Wayne is going to have to show me this week in training. A mistake at Villa, he needed to respond today and made another mistake.

"The ball is in his court to keep out the other two goalkeepers but I need to see it in training. I need to see a reaction from him."

What next?

Manchester City travel to West Ham next Saturday (17:30 GMT), while Crystal Palace host fellow Londoners Tottenham (15:00 GMT) on the same day.

The stats you need to know

Manchester City have netted a league-high 11 goals from outside the box this season, four more than any other side
Since coming to the Premier League in the summer of 2011, Sergio Aguero has bagged 88 goals, 10 more than any other player
Kevin de Bruyne has registered 11 goals and 11 assists in 29 appearances in all competitions for Manchester City this season
Crystal Palace have failed to score in five successive top-flight matches for the first time since February 1998

Lineup, Bookings (2) & Substitutions (6)

Manchester City

01 Hart
05 Zabaleta
30 Otamendi
26 Demichelis
11 Kolarov (Clichy - 52' )
06 Fernando
17 De Bruyne
18 Delph
21 Silva
10 Agüero (Jesús Navas - 85' )
72 Iheanacho (Y Touré - 57' )

Substitutes

03 Sagna
07 Sterling
13 Caballero
15 Jesús Navas
22 Clichy
42 Y Touré
77 Humphreys-Grant

Crystal Palace

13 Hennessey
02 Ward
06 Dann
27 Delaney
23 Souaré
28 Ledley
07 Cabaye Booked
18 McArthur (Mutch - 80' )
42 Puncheon
21 Wickham (Chamakh - 66' Booked )
11 Zaha (Lee Chung-yong - 85' )

Substitutes

01 Speroni
09 Campbell
14 Lee Chung-yong
15 Jedinak
22 Mutch
29 Chamakh
34 Kelly

Ref: Jonathan Moss

Att: 53,983

Match Stats

Possession 53 47

Shots

17 9

On target

4 3

Corners

5 6

Fouls

10 11

Live Text Commentary

Full time

Full Time Match ends, Manchester City 4, Crystal Palace 0.

90:00 +2:04 Full time

Full Time Second Half ends, Manchester City 4, Crystal Palace 0.

90:00 +0:44

Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) wins a free kick on the left wing.

90:00 +0:44

Foul by Yohan Cabaye (Crystal Palace).

89:27 Booking

Booking Yohan Cabaye (Crystal Palace) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

89:21

Nicolás Otamendi (Manchester City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

89:21

Foul by Yohan Cabaye (Crystal Palace).

88:04

David Silva (Manchester City) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

88:04

Foul by Jason Puncheon (Crystal Palace).

84:58 Substitution

Substitution Substitution, Manchester City. Jesús Navas replaces Sergio Agüero.

84:20 Substitution

Substitution Substitution, Crystal Palace. Lee Chung-yong replaces Wilfried Zaha.

83:18 Goal scored

Goal! Goal! Manchester City 4, Crystal Palace 0. David Silva (Manchester City) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the top right corner. Assisted by Sergio Agüero following a fast break.