Etihad Stadium became a stage for shock and spectacle on Saturday as Manchester City completed a remarkable comeback, demolishing Crystal Palace 5-2 after falling 2-0 behind in the first 21 minutes.
Palace stunned the home crowd early on when Eberechi Eze opened the scoring in the 8th minute, smashing home a precise pass from Ismaila Sarr. Things got worse for the champions just 13 minutes later, as Chris Richards powered in a header from a corner to make it 2-0, sending Palace fans into raptures.
The Etihad was briefly silenced, but City responded with vengeance. Kevin De Bruyne pulled one back in the 33rd minute with a brilliant free-kick that hit the post and went in. Just three minutes later, Omar Marmoush reacted quickest to a loose ball, bringing City level at 2-2.
Palace thought they had regained the lead just before the break when Eze found the net again, but the goal was ruled out for offside after a contentious decision by the linesman.
City came out firing in the second half, and within two minutes, Mateo Kovacic unleashed a thunderous strike from outside the box, sending it into the bottom corner to give City the lead for the first time. James McAtee made it 4-2 in the 56th minute after a sublime long pass from goalkeeper Ederson, and in the 79th minute, teenager Nico O’Reilly sealed the victory with a deflected shot that wrong-footed Palace goalkeeper Henderson.
It was a remarkable turnaround, with City’s firepower on full display as they ran out 5-2 winners.