Man City 4-0 Crystal Palace: Player ratings as John Stones double sends Citizens second

18 January 2021 00:37

Manchester City made easy work of a Wilfried Zaha-less Crystal Palace as John Stones scored twice and Kevin De Bruyne registered his 100th assist for the club in a 4-0 win on Sunday night that took them up to second in the Premier League.

Stones opened the scoring by nodding in De Bruyne's delicious cross before Ilkay Gundogan doubled their lead with a curled effort from outside the box in the second half.

England international Stones slammed another in from a corner before Raheem Sterling whipped a beautiful free kick past Vicente Guaita late on to wrap up the scoring.

The win sees City jump ahead of Liverpool, Leicester and Tottenham into second, just two points behind league leaders Manchester United with a game in hand on their local rivals. Palace are down in 13th.

Here are your City and Palace player ratings.

MANCHESTER CITY

1. Goalkeeper & Defenders

Ederson (GK) - 6/10 - Had very, very little to do. But it's another clean sheet in the race for the Golden Glove, a race he now leads with nine.

Kyle Walker (RB) - 6/10 - Has to have a point docked for a foul throw. Looked fairly rusty compared to his defensive teammates who all impressed.

Ruben Dias (CB) - 7/10 - Another calm and assured display from the Portugal international. City have been watertight at the back in recent weeks and Dias' consistent performances have been key.

John Stones (CB) - 9/10 - Continued his renaissance with a double, firstly opening the scoring with a nice header from De Bruyne's cross before smacking home the loose ball from a set piece. You'll sleep well if he's in your FPL team, too.

Oleksandr Zinchenko (LB) - 7/10 - Often drifted infield in possession, looking comfortable in central areas - mainly because he's a midfielder by trade, really. A little less comfortable when needed in defence, but that wasn't often.

2. Midfielders

Fernandinho (CM) - 7/10 - Not as eye-catching as his midfield partners but mopped up possession frequently and won plenty of aerial duels. His inclusion - a first league start since mid December - saw Rodri rested.

Ilkay Gundogan (CM) - 8/10 - Took a few punts at goal before getting it right in the second half, arrowing a curler that Guaita could only get a few fingers to. Calm and assured in possession and zipped the ball around nicely in attack.

Kevin De Bruyne (CM) - 8/10 - Bagged his 100th assist for City with a delicious cross for Stones' opener. It was the moment of supreme quality needed to break the deadlock. Constantly involved but brought off around the midway point in the second half.

3. Forwards

Bernardo Silva (RW) - 5/10 - Probably City's most disappointing performer. A bit of a bystander throughout and will need more creative outings to ensure he doesn't slip down the pecking order.

Gabriel Jesus (ST) - 6/10 - General play was fine and he wasn't needed in a goalscoring capacity on Sunday evening. However, he hasn't scored in the Premier League since November, a record which needs to addressing as soon as possible.

Raheem Sterling (LW) - 7/10 - Similarly to Jesus, Sterling linked play nicely but just couldn't get into as many scoring positions as we've seen in recent seasons. Bent a delicious free kick into the top corner for his side's fourth towards the end of the game.

4. Substitutes

Phil Foden - 6/10 - Kept City looking threatening in attack with a few examples of his silky dribbling ability thrown in, too.

Ferran Torres - 5/10 - Brief 20 minute appearance from Torres, who looked fine in possession.

Joao Cancelo - 5/10 - Similar to the pair above.

CRYSTAL PALACE

5. Goalkeeper & Defenders

Guaita couldn't reach Gundogan's strike | Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

Vicente Guaita (GK) - 5/10 - Pretty blameless for the goals. Could only parry a shot into Stones' path for the England international's second.

Joel Ward (RB) - 4/10 - Tough outing for Ward, who was often chasing shadows. Two corners he conceded resulted in City goals. Hardly his fault of course, but worth mentioning.

James Tomkins (CB) - 4/10 - Couldn't assert himself defensively on his fifth league appearance of the season.

Gary Cahill (CB) - 4/10 - Won a few aerial battles but a lack of pace really showed against City's nimble front six.

Tyrick Mitchell (LB) - 5/10 - A chastening outing for the youngster. He'll have taken plenty from the trip to the Etihad, especially with players like De Bruyne and Sterling on his side.

6. Midfielders

Andros Townsend (RM) - 6/10 - Put in a shift on the right, making four tackles and recovering the ball frequently. Just had no time to show off his crossing ability.

James McCarthy (CM) - 4/10 - Quite wasteful in possession, which you can't afford when City allow you so little of it.

Luka Milivojevic (CM) - 5/10 - Was the deepest of Palace's three central midfielders. Wasn't particularly assured with the ball when the Eagles were in possession but did make a few tackles.

James McArthur (CM) - 5/10 - Made a couple of tackles but wasn't a game that showed off his best qualities.

Eberechi Eze (LM) - 5/10 - Palace barely had any of the ball, so Eze's role was very much confined to a defensive role. Will have more freedom in games more suited to Palace's level.

7. Forward

Jordan Ayew (ST) - 6/10 - Had a good go up front, as good a go as he could have had. Tried a few dribbles, got a shot off at one stage, but always had a difficult brief.

8. Substitutes

Jairo Riedewald - 4/10 - Came on and had similar struggles to his midfield partners.

Michy Batshuayi - 5/10 - Late sprint around up front. Little impact.

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Source: 90min