Manchester City kept the pressure on Premier League leaders Arsenal with a dominant 3-0 victory over Crystal Palace on Wednesday, reducing the gap at the top of the table to two points as the title race heads into its final stretch.
Goals from Antoine Semenyo, Omar Marmoush and Savinho secured an important win for Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.
City moved to 77 points, while Arsenal remain on 79 with two matches left for both sides.
Pep Guardiola’s men knew anything less than victory would have handed Arsenal the chance to seal their first Premier League title in 22 years with a win over Burnley on Monday. Instead, City produced a composed display to keep the race alive.
Semenyo opened the scoring in the 32nd minute after a clever back-heel from Phil Foden released him inside the area, allowing the forward to fire into the bottom corner.
City doubled their advantage eight minutes later when Foden redirected a cross into the path of Marmoush, who turned smartly before drilling his effort into the far corner. The England midfielder registered two first-half assists in a Premier League match for the first time in his career.
Savinho wrapped up the victory in the 84th minute after collecting a through pass from Rayan Cherki and finishing from close range.
Speaking after the match, Foden described the encounter as crucial to City’s fading title hopes.
“It’s a massive game, must-win, so we are really happy,” he said.
“The aim is to keep pushing and keep Arsenal on their toes. We’ve seen a lot of things can happen on the final day. We just have to keep pushing and doing our part.”
Guardiola rotated his squad ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup final against Chelsea, making six changes and leaving top scorer Erling Haaland out of the starting line-up.
Despite the changes, City controlled the game throughout, dominating possession and limiting Palace’s attacking threat. The hosts finished with 72 per cent possession and 15 shots compared to Palace’s six.
Defender Josko Gvardiol nearly added a fourth before halftime, but Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson produced an excellent save to deny his header.
The result extended City’s unbeaten league run to January and ensured the title battle remains open heading into the closing fixtures of the season.
Palace manager Oliver Glasner admitted his side were second best on the night.
“Today City were much better than we were, were too good for us,” Glasner said.
“If you want to get a point, or even more, here at Etihad, you need a top performance, and we couldn’t deliver a top performance today.”
City travel to Bournemouth next before hosting Aston Villa on the final day of the season.
