Man City player ratings vs Palace: Six stars struggle as Rico Lewis snatches draw

If Manchester City thought they had turned a corner with their dismantling of Nottingham Forest in midweek, this was very nearly a return to first step for Pep Guardiola’s side against Crystal Palace. Rico Lewis bailed out several under-performing stars as City twice came from behind against a resilient Palace.

Palace wing-back Daniel Munoz struck the opening goal inside five minutes, squeezing an effort through Stefan Ortega. Erling Haaland’s looping header brought City back into the game but they struggled to use the momentum and gain control at Selhurst Park.

Maxence Lacroix thumped Palace back in front before a rare moment of City quality found Lewis in space, whose effort crashed past Dean Henderson. The City teenager was later sent off for a second yellow card, which incensed Guardiola and his staff.

On another tough afternoon for City’s stars, six of them scored a five-out-of-10 or below in Express Sport’s ratings.

Stefan Ortega – 4

Allowed Munoz’s early drive to squirm through his grasp. Never truly looked comfortable and Ederson could return to the line-up for the Champions League clash with Juventus.

Rico Lewis – 6

Lewis was tidy in possession as he stepped into midfield, and was ultimately the player to dig City out of a hole with an equaliser to make it 2-2. It was an excellent finish after a clever free-kick routine. But on a mixed day for the defender, he was sent off late on after collecting a second yellow card.

Kyle Walker – 4

City were extremely poor defensively and it feels the case that Walker would not be starting if Guardiola had a full squad to pick from. He struggled to keep up with the likes of Jean-Philippe Mateta and Eberechi Eze.

Ruben Dias – 5

Mateta had the better of Dias throughout, easily holding off the Portuguese defender to help Palace move up the pitch.

Josko Gvardiol – 6

Gvardiol was one of City’s better players on a tough afternoon. Many of their most promising attacks started with the Croatian.

Ilkay Gundogan – 5

German midfielder Gundogan is a shadow of the player who left City as a Treble-winning captain. He struck the post with a wonderful first-half effort but he epitomised City’s inability to be robust in midfield. Will Hughes and Jefferson Lerma won the midfield battle.

Bernardo Silva – 6

Silva grabbed the assist for Lewis’ equaliser, a rare moment of quality from City’s midfield players.

Kevin De Bruyne – 5

By no means the worst player on the pitch, but City needed their best player to step up. Still seemingly struggling with a long-term fitness issue, De Bruyne drifted in and out of a tough test at Selhurst Park.

Matheus Nunes – 6

Nunes provided an excellent cross for Haaland to head home and a lot of City’s more positive moments involved the former Wolves man. His out-of-possession work was less easy on the eye.

Savinho – 5

Savinho managed 79 minutes and probably should have been taken off much sooner. The Brazilian kept drifting into an already crowded central area and needed to stay wide.

Erling Haaland – 4

When City aren’t winning, scoring is not going to be enough for Haaland to be absolved of criticism. The Norwegian struggles to press and is rarely involved in play until the final third. His touches were loose and, aside from him beating Marc Guehi in the air to score, Palace’s back three found him too easy to play against.

City were better on the ball in the season before Haaland’s arrival, when Guardiola won the Premier League without a recognised centre-forward.

Substitutes

Jeremy Doku – 6

Doku was bright when he replaced Savinho with 20 minutes remaining, but he did not do enough to turn the game in City’s favour.

Jack Grealish – N/A

Grealish replaced De Bruyne with five minutes remaining and had little time to make an impact, particularly with City down to 10 men.