On March 12th, Beijing time, the 27th round of Premier League ushered in a focus battle, with Manchester City and Crystal Palace as the two sides. Manchester City ranked second in the Premier League before the game, and Crystal Palace ranked 12th in the Premier League before the game. The strength gap between the two teams is not small, but Crystal Palace still creates trouble for Manchester City. Manchester City has been looking for a good opportunity to break the door, but it was too late to break through the Crystal Palace. It was not until the 78th minute of the game that Manchester City got a penalty opportunity. In the end, Harland hit a penalty kick, and Manchester City won a thrilling victory with this penalty, beating Crystal Palace 1-0 away and scored 3 points. At present, Manchester City lags behind Arsenal by 2 points in one round, and the ownership of the Premier League championship this season remains in suspense!
Although Manchester City scored 3 points in the Crystal Palace, it was really awkward for Manchester City to play. Although Manchester City shot as many as 14 times, the shooting quality was not high, and there were very few shots that really threatened the Crystal Palace. De Braune didn’t start this game, and only after Harland scored a penalty did De Braune get a chance to play. Guardiola obviously put De Braune in the lead, but Crystal Palace attacked fiercely in the last 10 minutes, and Manchester City was once in a passive defense state. Fortunately, it was a near miss to win the game.
In fact, Crystal Palace can be regarded as the bitter victim of Manchester City. In the first six meetings (excluding this game), Manchester City only won three games, and the other three games were 2 draws and 1 loss respectively. If it is an opponent with equal strength, such a record is acceptable, but the strength of Manchester City is obvious to all. Crystal Palace has been in the middle reaches of the Premier League for many years, and Manchester City can’t get a bargain on Crystal Palace. It can also be seen that Crystal Palace has definitely studied Manchester City’s tactical system in depth, which perfectly limits the offensive rhythm of Manchester City.
Before the game against Manchester City, Crystal Palace’s last four games at home were all tied with their opponents, and the strength of these four opponents was not weak, namely Manchester United, Newcastle United, Brighton and Liverpool, which also strengthened Crystal Palace’s determination to defend the home court. This time against Manchester City, the Crystal Palace did have a chance to draw with Manchester City at home if it hadn’t been for a mistake in the 78th minute. Unfortunately, the players in the Crystal Palace couldn’t keep up with their physical fitness, and they could only watch Harland score a penalty. It is a pity that this is true.
Finally, let’s talk about Harland’s performance in this game. The only goal of Manchester City was scored by Harland, but Harland’s performance was still not perfect. Harland touched the ball only 22 times in this game. Among all the starting players in Manchester City, only goalkeeper Edersen touched the ball less than Harland (19 times), in other words, Harland’s participation was not high. Harland only succeeded twice in nine confrontations, and the success rate of confrontation was only 22%. Harland was originally proud of his physical fitness, but he didn’t show this advantage in this game, and even the success rate of passing the ball was only 60%, unlike the omnipotent "Magic Man Buou" before.
Judging from the performance of this game, Manchester City’s road to the championship is still very difficult, De Braune’s competitive state is becoming more and more unstable, and Harland has begun to be targeted by his opponents. If Alvarez, Grali Shi and Mahrez can’t stand up and turn things around, Manchester City may meet even greater challenges next. At present, Manchester City is only two points behind Arsenal, the top of the Premier League. If Manchester City wants to win the Premier League title this season, it must maintain the winning streak at this stage and strive to win more games!