The strategist leaned forward, watching intently as the roulette ball spun on the table. In the current state of Manchester City, winning felt as unpredictable as a toss-up between red and black.
Josko Gvardiol made his comeback from a long injury hiatus, having been sidelined since January with a broken leg, and was promptly included in the starting lineup. Similarly, Savinho, whose morale had dipped after being left out of Brazil’s 55-man World Cup squad, was also thrust into the starting eleven.
Guardiola made six changes, with five players—among them the pivotal Phil Foden and goal-scorer Omar Marmoush—earning a spot despite having collectively started only 20 matches since the beginning of the year, out of a possible 85.
After failing to secure victories against Sunderland, Brighton, and Chelsea, City dropped six crucial points. Insiders reported that Guardiola was more agitated than he had been in over a year.
By opting to field players with less game time, Guardiola was gambling on a strategy he believed necessary to maximize their chances of winning all three upcoming matches. He was concerned about the Wembley trip and the subsequent match against Bournemouth, as City’s requests to reschedule fixtures to reduce fatigue were denied. This match was clearly marked as one to navigate without setbacks.
Antoine Semenyo sparked a resurgent Manchester City performance to keep them in the hunt
Pep Guardiola rolled the dice with days to go until the FA Cup final and his risks paid off
There were murmurs that Oliver Glasner might have been playing mind games by fielding his main lineup, excluding only Adam Wharton and Ismaila Sarr, who were nearing exhaustion. However, Glasner had not suggested any major changes were planned for the Etihad game, especially with their Conference League clash against Rayo Vallecano in Leipzig not scheduled for another two weeks.
The major alterations should come against Arsenal on the final day, something Glasner has been forthright about and is well within his rights to do. To be fair, a gracious Guardiola has voiced no complaints about the eventuality. He argues that City will only have themselves to blame if Mikel Arteta delivers a first title for 22 years.
Given what occurred at Everton last week, they can only hope for a favour and an air of inevitability lingered with the Manchester drizzle, the knowing that Arsenal probably beat Burnley and Arsenal beat a significantly weaker Palace than this Palace. It grew stronger and more anxious as Jean-Philippe Mateta saw an early goal disallowed and Chris Richards header over once beating Marc Guehi from a corner.
But Guardiola cannot think like that. He fidgeted with impatience as City struggled to find a groove, slowly picking a way into this encounter and wore the look of a proud dad when the second string – an expensive second string yet second string nonetheless – started playing peerlessly. Especially when Phil Foden got himself going, producing two assists before half time.
The first one of them, two minutes after the half hour, will have stirred feelings within Thomas Tuchel. Back to goal, Foden quickly scanned over his right shoulder, spotting Antoine Semenyo in the periphery. What came next was the sort of moment rarely seen from Foden over the last two years: a perfect no-look backheel, straight into Semenyo’s path and the forward struck across Dean Henderson.
Phil Foden looked the player of old with a sumptuous back-heel to set up team-mate Semenyo
After missing out on an early goal after straying offside, Crystal Palace struggled to contain their opponents at the Etihad
That is the Phil Foden City and England need. And it is the Phil Foden both insist is still in there. Following up strong cameos against Everton and Brentford, this was further encouragement before Tuchel names his World Cup squad next Friday.
The second assist was not quite as awe-inspiring, although came from an incisive move with Foden taking up the sort of dangerous positions from which he thrives. Guardiola constantly bangs on about Foden needing to be closer to the opponent’s goal and here he was, about eight yards out, trying to gather a delightful Gvardiol clip. Foden could only knock it into the path of Omar Marmoush, a happy accident as the Egyptian did the rest.
Foden still takes that assist and now has 12 goal contributions in the league this term, more than Eberechi Eze, Bukayo Saka and Cole Palmer.
Given his form nosedived between December and the beginning of May, completely out of the team for large swathes of that, it is not bad evidence to present in front of Tuchel.
Gvardiol managed 58 minutes on his return, forcing Dean Henderson into a wonder save from a header, while Marmoush had more opportunities to add further gloss. Glasner went for it by introducing Sarr and Wharton, with the former pouncing on an uncharacteristically loose back pass by Bernardo Silva, only to fluff his lines.
The threat of Palace remained. Stalked City a touch. Guardiola could feel it, struggling or refusing to remain stationary before Savinho rounded off the night with only his second league goal since December 2024.
An inevitability of what is likely to happen over the coming days remains in the air, victory was never going to change that. But City are making Arsenal sit at the table, take their own chances – even if the stakes might be considerably more favourable.
