Manchester City opened their Premier League campaign with a comfortable victory at Selhurst Park, beating Crystal Palace 4-1 on Thursday evening. The result moves the visitors to the top of the table with six points from two games, while Palace remain bottom after another defeat.
And here's the thing — the match was decided in the opening quarter. Haaland struck in the seventeenth minute to give City an early lead, the kind of moment that sets the tone for everything that follows. Palace could have responded, but their first real chance came much later and was wasted.
Cherki took over from there. He scored in the fifty-fourth minute and added another in the fifty-ninth, while Donnarumma's own-goal in the fifty-sixth minute made it three before Palace had even settled into a rhythm. Haaland completed his double in the eighty-fourth minute, and by then the result was beyond doubt.
The statistics tell the story of a one-sided afternoon. City enjoyed seventy-two percent possession and created five big chances compared to Palace's three. The hosts managed only one shot on target from eight attempts, while City's nine shots on target at fifty percent accuracy translated into four goals. Palace did make twenty clearances and won twenty-three tackles, but it was effort without reward.
To be fair, Palace have now lost both opening matches — a 0-2 defeat to Everton followed by this heavier result. City, meanwhile, have won both: a 2-1 victory over Bournemouth before this one. The table gap is now six points, and for Palace the season has started badly.
