Erling Haaland scored the only goal from the penalty spot in the 78th minute as we extended our winning streak in all competitions to four games ahead of the Champions League clash with RB Leipzig and FA Cup tie with Burnley.
But ahead of those matches, we take a look at some of the most interesting statistics surrounding the win at Selhurst Park.
Spot on, Erling
The matchwinner made no mistake with the crucial penalty and it was another landmark moment for him in a remarkable season.
It took Haaland’s Premier League tally to 28 for the season and was his 10th goal on the road as became only the second City player to reach double figures home and away in a single Premier League campaign, following Sergio Aguero in 2014/15 (13 home, 13 away).
He moved back level with Brentford’s Ivan Toney for most Premier League penalties this season with five and moved to within one of Yaya Toure’s Club record of six penalties in a single campaign in 2013/14.
The Norwegian is on a run of 16 successful penalties for Club and country which stretches back to April 2021.
Eagles held
City have had four consecutive away clean sheets at Selhurst Park to claim four successive blank at an opponent in the Premier League for only the fourth time.
Like the run against Palace, two of the other streaks are still active with four consecutive blanks at Leicester from 2020-22 and Sheffield United 1993-2020.
We also had four unbeaten games at the Emirates Stadium against Arsenal between 2018-2021.
In Saturday’s game, the Eagles failed to register a single shot on target with only one effort on Ederson’s goal on our previous visit in March 2022.
Solid Stones
City defender John Stones made his first appearance since January after recovering from a hamstring injury.
And the England international maintained his record away from home this season with City winning or drawing every game in which he’s featured.
In fact the Blues have only been beaten once this season when Stones has played, in the injury-time defeat to Brentford.
Against Palace, Stones played in the the hybrid full-back/midfield role and was straight back into top form defensively and offensively, making four tackles and one key pass.
Waiting game
City left it relatively late to grab the winner but a look at recent form suggests it might have been expected.
Pep Guardiola side’s last 10 goals against Palace in the Premier League have all come in the second half of games, with City not scoring in the opening 45 minutes in each of our last four matches.
Trailing 2-0 at home in August, we had to wait until the 53rd minute for a Bernardo Silva goal before Haaland registered a 19-minute hat-trick in a 4-2 victory.
Our last first-half goals at Selhurst Park were back in October 2019 when Gabriel Jesus and David Silva netted in a 2-0 win.
