The good news for Manchester City is that Liverpool suddenly look quite vulnerable. They conceded three goals here and ended up with 10 men after James Milner had, almost inevitably, picked up a second yellow for a foul on Wilfried Zaha. The bad news is that they are still winning, even in adverse circumstances. The home side’s 10 men managed what turned out to be the decisive goal when Sadio Mané cut in from the left to score in stoppage time, and even though there was still time for Max Meyer to grab a last-gasp third for the visitors, Liverpool clung on for another three points.
One way or another Crystal Palace have had a big say in the absorbing battle at the top of the Premier League. They halted the City procession by unexpectedly winning at the Etihad before Christmas and they might have pegged Liverpool back here but for their lapses of concentration in defence ruining a promising start. In Manchester Palace mounted a spectacular comeback after going a goal down, scoring twice in quick succession to allow Liverpool to open up a gap at the top of the table. Here they seemed to grow tired of waiting for the league leaders to go in front, so effective was their blanket defence, and after half an hour of comfortably repelling everything Liverpool could throw at them they went upfield to show the home side what a quick and incisive move looks like.
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