Man City's best and worst players in important victory against Crystal Palace

Manchester City were made to work hard for their 4-2 victory over Crystal Palace on Saturday and it was a tale of two halves for Pep Guardiola's side.

The champions fell behind after just three minutes and despite going into the break level thanks to Kevin De Bruyne's magical effort, they were far from their swashbuckling best at Selhurst Park.

However, Guardiola's half-time team talk did the trick as Man City turned on the style after the break, with goals from Rico Lewis, Erling Haaland and that man De Bruyne again securing a relatively routine three points in the end.

The result puts plenty of pressure on Arsenal and Liverpool in the Premier League title race, while Guardiola was also able to give rests to the likes of Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva.

Here are Man City's best and worst performers from their victory over the Eagles.

There are few players who can make complicated things look simple, but De Bruyne is certainly one of them. The Belgian waltzed through the game with little fuss and yet managed to bag himself a brace and set up Haaland's effort to add to his impressive Man City tally.

De Bruyne's opener was a thing of pure beauty, striking the ball with ferocity and accuracy into Dean Henderson's top corner from a difficult angle. It was an important equaliser for the visitors after a tough start, and he ran the show after the break as well.

His smart near-post cross created City's third and the goal that ultimately killed the game off, while he added a left-footed thunderbolt just minutes later to put the icing on the cake. Another masterful display from the 32-year-old.

The teenager got his name on the scoresheet and put Man City in front for the first time at Selhurst Park just after the break, but his