Manchester City beat Crystal Palace 4-2 at Selhurst Park – and one player came in for some high praise on Match of the Day last night.
Pep Guardiola‘s side took all three points with another good performance, with Kevin De Bruyne scoring two goals on his return to the side.
The Belgian was rested in midweek against Aston Villa, with Phil Foden shining at the Etihad.
It was Foden’s turn to rest up against Palace, with Real Madrid next up for City in the Champions League.
Erling Haaland also scored yesterday after sitting out the Villa game, and there was also a goal for Rico Lewis, who has been tremendous since coming into the side amid some new injuries.
One man who did not score yesterday was Jack Grealish – but he was hailed by Dion Dublin last night on Match of the Day…
Dion Dublin brands Jack Grealish ‘outstanding’ after Manchester City beat Crystal Palace
Grealish was given the nod to start against Palace, keeping his place from midweek.
The 28-year-old recently returned from injury, and it is important for him to get up to speed now at the business end of the season.
He played a key role for City last season en route to the Treble, and Pep needs him on top form in these coming weeks.
Grealish was excellent in midweek against Villa, and he enjoyed another solid outing yesterday against Palace.
He proved very difficult for the likes of Joel Ward and Daniel Munoz to contain. His performance was lapped up on Match of the Day last night, with Dion Dublin saying: “He looked like he enjoyed today. He got into good positions and hogged that left touchline and I thought he was outstanding.
“He was being very positive. It’s great to see Jack enjoying his football again.
“He did it all game and just found himself in that sort of running track area down that left side, picking out the right pass at the right time.
“His end product was brilliant, and his vision was brilliant.”
Jack’s back
It has been a very frustrating campaign for Grealish with his injury problems. But his last couple of games have been very encouraging.
Grealish becomes a much more dangerous player when he mixes it up a bit more.
His tendency is always to come inside onto his strong right foot, and often he does pass to his full-back. But against Palace yesterday we saw him go on the outside more, and he caused a lot of problems.
Just adding a bit more unpredictability can really help him become a lot more effective for City, and hopefully, he can kick on from this performance.
It’s Real Madrid up next, and he surely now stands a great chance of starting that game on Tuesday.
