Manchester City 4 Crystal Palace 2: City player ratings as Kevin De Bruyne leads City to a vital win. | OneFootball

Here are the City player ratings as Manchester City had to fight back from a goal down to beat Crystal Palace 4-2. It was a vital victory for Pep Guardiola’s side, which, for the time being see’s them rise to second on the table before Arsenal and Liverpool are in action this weekend.

Pep Guardiola made four changes to the team that beat Aston Villa and the champions had to fight for all three points after falling behind to an early Jean-Phillipe Mateta strike. Crystal Palace hit the champions on the break after a misplaced John Stones pass set the scene for the hosts to break quickly. They took full advantage to show Manchester City that they wouldn’t have it their own way at Selhurst Park.

City wouldn’t be behind for long, however. A sublime Kevin De Bruyne strike in the 13th minute restored parity. It was a typical piece of Kevin De Bruyne magic to level the scores.

The first half saw Manchester City dominate possession while Crystal Palace looked to hit the champions on the break. Erling Haaland spurned arguably City’s best chance of the first half when he saw his effort saved by Dean Henderson when played through in the 19th minute.

For Palace Jordan Ayew hit the bar in the 39th minute in a warning to Pep Guardiola’s side that they had to be wary of Palace’s threat on the break.

Manchester City took the lead within minutes of the second half beginning. Rico Lewis scored in the 47th minute to give City the lead.

The champions went up a gear after that as they dominated possession. It was a surprise that it took 19 minutes for them to add a third goal, and it came through Erling Haaland in the 66th minute after he tapped in a sublime Kevin De Bruyne cross.

Kevin De Bruyne then added City’s 4th in the 70th minute with a left footed thunderbolt after a lovely piece of play between himself, Rodri, and Jack Grealish. Rodri’s lay off teed up De Bruyne, who made no mistake to effectively end the contest. It was also the 100th goal scored by Kevin De Bruyne for Manchester City across his glittering Manchester City career.

Crystal Palace did grab a consolation goal in the 86th minute through Odsonne Edouard to make it 4-2. Manchester City then saw out the game to pick up a vital three points, and they can now begin preparations for a trip to Spain to take on Real Madrid next week.

Here are the City player ratings from an entertaining win at Selhurst Park.

City player ratings

Stefan Ortega-7/10: He could do nothing about either of Palace’s goals. His Cruyff turn in the first half was an absurd piece of skill. Has he done enough to start against Real Madrid next week?

Rico Lewis-8/10: Grabbed a goal and put another fantastic display. He has a key role to play on the run home and showed his importance to the champions today.

John Stones-6/10: Not his best display in the first half, but he was a lot better in the second half.

Ruben Dias-6/10: Not his best performance. Like Stones and Rodri, he looked off in the first half but was a little bit better in the second.

Josko Gvardiol-5/10: Not as polished as his previous performances. Substituted at half time for Akanji as Pep looked for a more calming presence at the back.

Rodri-6.5/10: Had a poor first half but was back to his best in the second half. Came off with 15 minutes to go to save his legs for the Bernabeu next week.

Kevin De Bruyne-9/10: Scored two absolute worldies and provided an assist. A man-of-the-match performance for De Bruyne.

Oscar Bobb-7/10: A nice performance from Bobb. He played primarily on the right wing and did his job well. He does deserve more minutes based on his display today.

Julian Alvarez-6/10: He had a couple of chances to score in the first half but put one effort wide and saw another saved. He did work hard, just not his day in front of goal.

Jack Grealish-8/10: Manchester City is a better team with Grealish in it, and his two performances this week have shown that fact. He looks to be hitting form at the right time of the season.

Erling Haaland-7/10: Grabbed his goal in the second half and missed one golden chance in the first half. You do get the feeling that his goal will do his confidence the world of good.

Substitutes

Manuel Akanji-7/10: Introduced at half time and did his job well at left-back. Almost gave away a goal when losing possession deep in his own half. Besides that he was very good.

Matheus Nunes- 6/10: Came on for the final 15 minutes with the game won. Showed a few glimpses of his quality.

Mateo Kovacic- 6/10: Gave Rodri a much needed rest for the final stages. Did what was required while he was on the pitch.

Bernardo Silva- N/A: Not on long enough to mark.