Goal fest at Etihad: four goals within 30 minutes between City and Palace

Hurria Butt 5 months ago 1.6k
City conceded two goals in 20 minutes against Palace. Screenshot/DAZN

Eze and Richards struck within 13 minutes to put Crystal Palace 2-0 ahead away to Manchester City before De Bruyne and Marmoush's goals levelled things out on Saturday in the Premier League.

It couldn't have been a worse start for Manchester City. The reigning Premier League champions were behind just after eight minutes on the clock as Eberechi Eze opened the scoring to put Crystal Palace ahead at the Eithad.

The English forward was picked out well by Ismaila Sarr from the right before comfortably tucking the ball in the back of the net. And the nightmare did not end there for Pep Guardiola's men as Chris Richards made it 2-0 after 13 minutes.

Ederson made a blunder of Adam Wharton's corner in the 21st minute. The Brazilian shot-stopper came out to punch the ball away, but missed it completely to give the 25-year-old defender a free header from close range.

Things could've been more dire for the home side after Eze thought he had gotten his brace in before the half-hour mark, but the player turned out to be in an offside position in the build-up to the goal.

It was the first use of the semi-automated offside technology (SOAT) seen in the English top flight after the Premier League confirmed on April 1 that the system is finally ready to make its debut.

But the Sky Blues showed their fighting spirit, getting two quick goals to even out the scoring within three minutes. Departing captain De Bruyne cut the deficit directly from a free kick, catching Dean Henderson off guard to curl the ball off the post.

Marmoush smashed home from eight yards in the 36th minute, making it all square after Gundogan had completely miskicked a De Bruyne header across the face of goal from a James McAtee cross.

Mentioned in the news story

Premier League
Crystal Palace
Manchester City
K. De Bruyne
O. Marmoush
Chris Richards