Manchester City‘s Premier League title defence suffered a major blow on Saturday as Crystal Palace came from two goals down to secure a 2-2 draw thanks to Michael Olise’s last-minute penalty at the Etihad Stadium.
Olise stepped up from 12 yards to send Ederson the wrong way after Jean-Philippe Mateta was fouled by a clumsy Phil Foden challenge, as City were denied their first home league victory since November 4 – having won all of their previous 23.
Pep Guardiola’s side City side had dominated possession and appeared in complete control after Jack Grealish put them ahead in the 24th minute and Rico Lewis added a 54th-minute finish.
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But Palace fought back to reduce the deficit via Jean-Philippe Mateta with just under a quarter of an hour of normal time to go, and Olise subsequently converted from the spot in the fifth minute of stoppage time to secure a point for the visitors.
The draw, City’s third consecutive at home, leaves the defending champions in fourth place, three points behind leaders Liverpool.
Palace have still only won one of their past 10 games but after losing out to a stoppage-time goal by Liverpool last week, this must have felt like a victory for Roy Hodgson’s men, and was certainly celebrated like one.
It is the fifth time in six league games that Pep Guardiola’s men have dropped points, having also drawn with Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham and lost to Aston Villa before last Sunday’s 2-1 win at Luton.
In what was their last match before heading to Saudi Arabia for the Club World Cup, the result leaves them fourth in the table, three points behind leaders Liverpool, who host Manchester United on Sunday.
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