0 strikers, 3 goals for Manchester City against Crystal Palace
Manchester City did not let the absence of a regular striker throw a spanner in their works as they registered a comfortable 3-0 victory over Crystal Palace. They now have 39 points equalling Chelsea who have a game in hand.
City were without the services of first choice strikers, as all were out due to injuries. Martin Demichelis replaced the injured Vincent Kompany at the back and Aleksandar Kolarov took the left flank replacing Gael Clichy.
Without the prolific services of Sergio Aguero, City lacked the cutting edge in the first half as they could not find a way past the defenders of Palace, who held a tight line and defended in numbers.
The first half was an even affair
In fact, Crystal Palace had the first sight on goal when City defenders were unable to deal with a high cross ball which found Yannick Bolasie who nodded it back to Frazier Campbell and his attempted overhead kick blazed over the bar.
Soon after, City came into the action when a cut-back from Kolarov fell in the path of Yaya Toure. The African unleashed a ferocious shot, but could not keep it down.
City’s best chance in the first half came in the 43rd minute, when an inch-perfect through ball from Toure met Pablo Zabaleta inside the box. The Argentinian waited for a while and then chipped the ball over Julian Speroni, but it went agonisingly wide.
City’s persistence paid off in the second half
However, the second half started on a good note for City as Silva broke the deadlock in the 49th minute. Fernandinho released Zabaleta on the right who pulled the ball back for Silva. The Spaniard’s attempt took a huge deflection off Scott Dann and went past the hapless Speroni.
City’s persistent effort bore fruit again when a low cross from Kolarov was directly put inside the goal by Silva from inside the box. This was the second goal of the day for the Spaniard who was at his sublime best throughout the match.
Yaya Toure wrapped up the proceedings with a fine effort in the 81st minute. Jesus Navas fed the ball to Milner whose cross was well blasted into the goal by Toure to make it 3-0.