Manchester City took on Crystal Palace with an eye towards closing the gap on league leaders Liverpool.

City have been surprisingly inconsistent this season, absolutely blowing some sides away, while being rolled over by the likes of Wolves and Norwich City.

Their loss to Wolves and the cusp of the recent international break saw rivals Liverpool open an eight-point gap at the top of the league.

For Pep Guardiola, these are unfamiliar waters, having dominated the English football scene for the last two years.

The trip to Crystal Palace represented the perfect opportunity to lump some of the pressure back on Liverpool, who visit Old Trafford tomorrow.

City finally found the breakthrough thanks to a diving header from Gabriel Jesus before David Silva doubled their lead through after a sumptuous Raheem Sterling pass.

Sterling was a man on a mission in the first half having earlier diffused a dangerous Palace attack all on his own.

After a defensive slip gifted Wilfred Zaha acres of space to attack, Sterling put on the afterburners and hunted him down like a seasoned left-back, pushing him wide before nicking the ball off him.


https://twitter.com/SkySportsPL/status/1185601928291651587

How quick is he? Zaha is no slouch but he had caught up to him in a matter of seconds.

With that kind of work rate going in both directions, it’s no wonder that Guardiola favours Sterling so much when it comes to selecting his sides.

Is there anything the Englishman can’t do?