Manchester City's tenacious 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace on Saturday allowed them to close the gap on Premier League leaders Arsenal to just two points. Erling Haaland's penalty sealed the victory.
Before Haaland's penalty-kick goal with 12 seconds left in the game, at Selhurst Park, in the pouring rain, Pep Guardiola's team had trouble getting past Palace.
Since moving from Borussia Dortmund to City last year, Haaland has scored 34 goals in all competitions, and that was enough to secure City's sixth victory in their past six league games.
The champions will hope Mikel Arteta's team falters when they visit Fulham on Sunday for their game in hand after applying pressure to Arsenal.
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Although not playing at their best, City needed the hard-fought win to keep Arsenal from extending their lead in the title chase.
Now that the contest is at 1-1, Haaland and company will concentrate on the second leg of each of their round-of-16 UEFA CL versus Leipzig in Manchester on Tuesday.
With no wins in any of their ten games in 2023, Palace is currently on the longest winless streak in the Premier League. As a result of this miserable streak, They are just four points above the danger zone for relegation.
Kyle Walker was benched by Guardiola only days after police opened an inquiry over claims the England defender indecently exposed himself at a bar. Kevin De Bruyne was also left out.
Palace goalkeeper Vicente Guaita parried Rodri's potent shot as City got off to a fast start.
After Jeffrey Schlupp stopped Ruben Dias from converting the rebound, Jack Grealish missed his subsequent wide shot.
After a challenging season for the England playmaker, Guardiola claims Foden is back to his best.
Phil Foden's careless ball turnover led Manuel Akanji to hurry back and block Wilfried Zaha's shot, almost catching City off guard.
Haaland Strike
Guardiola was on his feet yelling at his star player after Foden struggled in the first half, and his wayward pass went straight to Palace's Luka Milivojevic.
Haaland scored his first hat-trick in the Premier League against Palace in August, helping City rally from a 2-0 halftime deficit to win 4-2.
Haaland should have given City the lead in the rematch, but he clipped over from six yards halfway through the first half. Nathan Ake's cross was picking him out.
The Norwegian striker again presented a threat with a low cross-shot that Guaita stopped at the near post. Haaland then fired wide on the rebound.
In the second half, City continued to control the field. Jack Grealish soon earned a free kick, and Foden's 25-yard shot produced a good save from Guaita.
The substitution of Julian Alvarez for Ben Foden cost the game as the Argentina World Cup winner blazed over after his quick turn exposed the Palace defence.
Soon after, Alvarez's long-range attempt was too near for Guaita, but City continued to apply pressure and scored in the 78th minute.
Ilkay Gundogan was the victim of a hasty challenge from Michael Olise that resulted in a penalty. Haaland stepped up to take the kick and sent Guaita the wrong way.
As he headed over from Grealish's cross, Haaland squandered an opportunity to eliminate Palace.
Because of that error, City had to get through a tense finish in which Ederson saved them from Eberechi Eze before they could finally breathe easy.
