Manchester City kept their Premier League title hopes alive with a 3-0 win over Crystal Palace on Wednesday to cut their gap on league leaders Arsenal to just two points with two games remaining in the season.
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Pep Guardiola’s side move to 77 points while Arsenal remain on 79, ensuring the title race will go down. Although City still require Arsenal to slip up in one of their remaining games, the defending champions have shown complete focus and composure at home.
The breakthrough came in the 32nd minute when Antoine Semenyo calmly finished into the bottom corner after a clever back-heel assist from Phil Foden opened up the Palace defence. City doubled their advantage eight minutes later through Omar Marmoush, who reacted quickly inside the box after another Foden tackle to curl his effort into the far corner.
Foden’s two assists marked the first occasion in his Premier League career that he had scored more goals in a single game before half-time.
The third goal came late in the game when Savinho collected a pinpoint ball from Rayan Cherki and sealed a comfortable victory from close range.
City knew anything less than victory would give Arsenal the chance to secure a first league crown in more than two decades with victory against relegated Burnley on Monday. Instead, Guardiola’s men ensured the pressure remained firmly on the leaders.
With Saturday’s FA Cup final against Chelsea looming, Guardiola rotated heavily and made six changes to his starting line-up, including leaving top scorer Erling Haaland out. Despite the changes, City controlled possession throughout and rarely looked troubled.
The home side dominated possession with 72 percent of the ball and had 15 shots compared to Palace’s 6. Defender Josko Guardiol, making his first start since recovering from a broken tibia suffered in January, almost added another goal before half-time, but Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson produced an excellent save to deny his header.
The win also extended City’s unbeaten run in the league until mid-January and added drama to a title race that had been destined for Arsenal for most of the campaign.
City next face AFC Bournemouth before ending the season at home to Aston Villa on May 24. If Arsenal beat Burnley, City will need another win against a Bournemouth side currently enjoying a 16-match unbeaten run to keep their hopes alive.
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Published on:
14 May 2026 08:52 IST
