Pep Guardiola admits Crystal Palace are 'stronger' than Man City in one key area, £15m man key

Crystal Palace bloodying the noses of Manchester City in December? This is Premier League heritage.

And while Saturday’s enthralling 2-2 draw at Selhurst Park might not have seen anything quite so spectacular as Andros Townsend’s fabled volley back in 2018, or as dramatic as Michael Olise’s 95th minute equaliser 12 months ago, if Manchester City really do have a ‘bogey team’ outside of the division’s big guns, then The Eagles may be it.

Crystal Palace remain 16th, with only two wins to show from their 14 Premier League matches thus far.

But manager Oliver Glasner remains convinced that the tide is turning, slowly but surely.

Goals from Daniel Munoz and Maxence Lacroix – both set up by Will Hughes as the long-serving midfielder channeled his inner-Kevin de Bruyne – means Palace, despite their lowly position in the table, have lost just one in their last eight.

They were impressive to a man against the champions. Especially their £15 million summer signing. Lacroix was linked with Liverpool before joining Crystal Palace, and it’s becoming easier to see why.

For Manchester City, meanwhile, their recent record could hardly be more contrasting.

Pep Guardiola on one area where Crystal Palace are ‘stronger’ than Manchester City

It is now one win in nine for Pep Guardiola’s battlescarred charges, in a week in which the Man City manager denied reports of a rift with Kevin de Bruyne.

And while the Guardiola was glad to see his team show the resilience required to cancel out Lacroix’s first Palace goal, he does accept that Man City simply did not have the physicality to cope with Palace, particularly in dead-ball situations.

“We take the point. I’m proud of the players for how they fought and came back twice in difficult conditions for both sides, not just for us,” Guardiola following a result which leaves them in danger of falling 11 points behind Liverpool.

“But we fought hard as always, and we’ll take the point. We played the last 15 minutes with 10 versus 11 [following Rico Lewis’ red card]. We have many important players injured but we were there, and we did everything we could to win, and I am so pleased and proud of the players.

“We made two fantastic goals, but [Palace] are stronger than us at set-pieces. In general, the game was there [to be won]. We tried, we fought, and I was very pleased about many things I saw.”

This, of course, was still a far better result for Oliver Glasner than it was for Pep Guardiola, even if the gap between Crystal Palace and the relegation zone remains much smaller than The Eagles would like at this stage of the season.

Yet, Palace’s performances against some of the Premier League’s more loftier sides bodes well, presuming they can be translated into matches with those lower down the table.

Eight of Crystal Palace’s 13 points have now come against Chelsea, Manchester United, Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle and Manchester City.

Oliver Glasner delighted as Crystal Palace improvement continues

“Overall, it was a very, very positive week for us,” Glasner says, his team following up that Ipswich Town victory on Tuesday with a point against the champions. “Also, the performance is getting better and better.

“So many, many positive things. But still, things where we have to work on and to improve in the future to win such games like today.

“We try playing forward and creating chances. And when you lead twice against [Man City], it feels like;; ‘Come on, bring it home, bring it over the goal line!’

“But after too long, we were a little bit too passive. And then we could see all the quality City had. It was an amazing second goal they scored [through Lewis]. But, again, I think a point against City is a good result.

“It’s a fantastic team and a fantastic manager, so I’m satisfied.”