Foden runs the show as City beat Palace 3-0 to cut Arsenal's lead back to two
Manchester City beat Crystal Palace 3-0 at the Etihad on Wednesday to keep the Premier League title race alive for one more matchweek and cut Arsenal's lead at the top down to two points.
City had to win and they had to look like the City of old, and for an hour at least that is what Pep Guardiola got. Antoine Semenyo opened the scoring in the 32nd minute, finishing off a flicked back-heel from Phil Foden. Eight minutes later Foden was at it again, Foden controlling a long ball from Gvardiol before setting up Omar Marmoush to roll in the second before half-time.
Savinho added the third in the 84th minute, driven onto Rayan Cherki's pass after a long break, with the Etihad already chanting through the closing stages.
Foden the difference, Semenyo the finish
Foden was the standout, two assists in 40 minutes and a constant nuisance between Palace's lines. The back-heel for Semenyo was the touch of the night, and the kind of pass that arrives only when he is properly switched on.
For Semenyo, in his first season as a City player after the £64 million January move from Bournemouth that took the club's 12-month spend past £425 million, the opener was a clean reward for the work he had done all night between the lines. For Palace, Oliver Glasner kept things honest after the final whistle, saying his side had not been able to deliver a top performance at the Etihad and that they had been beaten on the day.
Where the title race goes now
Arsenal still control the run-in. A win at home to Burnley on 18 May and a trip to Crystal Palace on 24 May will hand Mikel Arteta the title regardless of what City do. A single slip lets City back in, and on head-to-head Guardiola's side would lift it ahead of Arsenal if the two finish level City having taken four points off Arsenal against just one in return this season.
City head to Bournemouth on 19 May and then host Aston Villa at the Etihad on 24 May to keep their end of the bargain. The arithmetic is harder than the football looked tonight, but for the first time in a fortnight a finish that did not seem possible is back in the conversation.
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