Man City pay penalty as Michael Olise secures dramatic draw for Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace’s Michael Olise forced a draw at Manchester City (Martin Rickett/PA)
Manchester City dropped points once again as a stoppage-time Michael Olise penalty saw the Premier League champions held 2-2 by Crystal Palace at the Etihad Stadium.
City had dominated possession and appeared in complete control after Jack Grealish put them ahead in the 24th minute and Rico Lewis added a 54th-minute finish.
But Palace fought back to reduce the deficit via Jean-Philippe Mateta with just under a quarter of hour of normal time to go, and Olise subsequently converted from the spot in the fifth minute of stoppage time to secure a point for the visitors.
Manchester City’s Rodri battles for the ball with Crystal Palace’s Matheus Franca (Martin Rickett/PA)
It is the fifth time in six league games that Pep Guardiola’s men have dropped points, having also drawn with Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham and lost to Aston Villa prior to last Sunday’s 2-1 win at Luton.
In what was their last match before heading to Saudi Arabia for the Club World Cup, the result leaves them fourth in the table, three points behind leaders Liverpool, who host Manchester United on Sunday.
It was a significant boost for Roy Hodgson’s 15th-placed Palace after the 2-1 defeat by Liverpool last week had made it six losses in eight games.
As City – once again without the injured Erling Haaland – bossed the opening stages of the contest, Dean Henderson did well to turn a fifth-minute Julian Alvarez header behind on his Premier League debut, Ruben Dias just missed the top corner with a curling effort and Rodri hit two attempts, the latter via a deflection, off target.
Jack Grealish, right, scored the opener (Martin Rickett/PA)
The breakthrough then came when Phil
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