Man City beat Palace to close the gap on Arsenal to 2, with two games to play Football News

Manchester City beat Crystal Palace 3-0 to cut Arsenal’s lead in the Premier League to two points as the season draws to a close.

Second-string Manchester City cruised past Crystal Palace 3-0 on Wednesday to move just two points behind Premier League leaders Arsenal, with two games remaining in the thrilling competition.

Pep Guardiola made six changes from the team that beat Brentford 3-0 at the weekend, with Erling Haaland and Jeremy Doku among those on the bench, while Palace boss Oliver Glasner also made some tweaks.

Recommended Articles

list of 4 itemsend of series

First-half goals from Antoine Semenyo and Omar Marmoush put City in control at a soggy Etihad, and a late strike from Savinho added gloss to the scoreline.

The tide seems to have turned against City in the title race in recent weeks, but last week’s costly 3-3 draw at Everton sent Arsenal back into the box.

City’s players were left in agony to see West Ham not stoppage time against Arsenal after following a VAR check on Sunday as the Gunners won 1-0.

City opened the scoring in the 32nd minute when Phil Foden produced a delightful pass to set up Semenyo, who coolly finished past Dean Henderson into the far corner of the goal.

They added to their lead eight minutes later, with Foden again providing, touching the ball to Marmoush, who celebrated his third Premier League goal of the season.

John Stones, who left at the end of the campaign, was replaced at the end of a forgettable second half to a rapturous reception.

Minutes later, Rayan Cherki raced the ball from his own half before setting up Savinho, who swept the ball past Henderson.

The three-goal win takes City to 77 points, two behind Arsenal. City now have a goal difference of more than one plus and have scored seven more goals.

City face Chelsea in the FA Cup final at Wembley on Saturday, fighting for a double domestic trophy after lifting the League Cup earlier this season.

Before the start of Wednesday, Guardiola explained his several changes, saying: “This is a tight schedule, everyone is fit; everyone has to contribute.”

Despite the narrow margin, Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal are still favorites to win their first Premier League title since 2004.

If the Gunners beat relegated Burnley next Monday, City will have to beat Bournemouth, who are chasing the Champions League, the next day to keep the competition alive.

On May 24, the last day of the season, Arsenal travel to Palace, while City, who are on a 14-game unbeaten run in the league, host Aston Villa.

Foden said the title race is still on.

“It’s a team game at the end of the day. If you want to win titles and trophies, it’s about the whole team and everyone doing their part,” Foden told Sky Sports.

“The aim is to keep pushing and keep them on their toes, we have seen many things can happen on the last day.

“I’ve experienced it many times, when the game doesn’t go our way, we have to keep doing what we want.”

Palace look to the UEFA Conference League final against Rayo Vallecano in Leipzig on May 27, Glasner’s last game in charge of the south London club.