Manchester City fans were given an almighty scare against Crystal Palace before surging back to record an emphatic 5-2 win in Saturday’s Premier League clash at the Etihad Stadium.
Early goals from Eberechi Eze and Chris Richards had Manchester City fans fearing a heavy defeat, but Kevin De Bruyne proved the catalyst for a superb comeback.
De Bruyne, Omar Marmoush, Nico Kovacic, James McAtee and Nico O’Reilly all scored to help move City back into the Premier League’s top four.
And while all the goalscorers deserve credit – while Ally McCoist hailed Ederson for his assist for McAtee – there were also some unsung heroes in the game.
READ MORE: Man City player ratings vs Crystal Palace as Kevin De Bruyne steals the show but Mateo Kovacic mixed
Nico Gonzalez delivers superb under-the-radar display
Nico Gonzalez grew into the game after City’s early struggles as he provided stability at the base of midfield.
The 23-year-old was assured on the ball, keeping things ticking over and making plenty of good passes to help City move forward.
Gonzalez was also great off the ball, putting in some great tackles, breaking up many of Palace’s attacks, and providing a sense of security at the base of midfield.
| Nico Gonzalez stats v Palace | |
| Minutes played | 90′ |
| Touches | 100 |
| Accurate passes | 83/87 (95%) |
| Ground duels (won) | 9 (5) |
| Aerial duels (won) | 2 (2) |
| Clearances | 1 |
| Interceptions | 1 |
| Total tackles | 4 |
Gonzalez registered some impressive stats on the day, such as seven duels won, 100 touches of the ball, a pass accuracy of 95 percent and four tackles.
What’s worth remembering is that Gonzalez has come into a fairly disjointed City at one of their lowest ebbs in years and is looking very solid.
It’ll be exciting to see how he fares when City’s rebuild is further down the line and, crucially, when Rodri is back and Guardiola could potentially use them in a double pivot.
What Pep Guardiola has said about Nico Gonzalez
Gonzalez was a notable omission from City’s starting XI for the derby against Manchester United.
Speaking ahead of the Palace game, Guardiola shared why he benched the £50million January signing and what he can do to improve.
“I decided for the players with experience who know all the patterns better. And look what happened against United!” Guardiola said as per the Manchester Evening News.
“But it’s not against him because Jeremy (Doku) has played awesome recently for many games and didn’t play against United. It’s not against any players particularly.
“The impact for the news ones has been really good. I’m impressed in training.
“It’s not easy when they come to an environment where the way we are playing and the results are not good.
“Nico has played good and I’m pretty sure when Rodri comes back just by mimicking him in training sessions he will learn a lot.
“He’s another guy who understands many things and he will get it because he listens, he is so attentive and focused on his work – football, football, football.
“That’s so important and the times he played – against Brighton he regained the ball and there was a transition and we could score so he has done many good things.
“With the ball, he has to move less. I don’t like holding midfielders who move a lot, they have to be smaller in the position but I’m pretty sure he will get it.
“He has physicality, he wants to learn, he learns quick and it’s going to happen.”
