Skip to main content
Manchester Evening News

Why Rico Lewis didn't enjoy first Man City Premier League goal as Crystal Palace gameplan revealed

These are your Manchester City evening headlines on Sunday, December 17.

Rico Lewis scored his first Premier League goal on Saturday.
Rico Lewis scored his first Premier League goal on Saturday.(Image: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

The Manchester City squad may well have been a little subdued during their overnight flight to Jeddah after they threw away a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 against Crystal Palace on Saturday.

Jack Grealish and Rico Lewis scored either side of half-time to give City what looked to be a comfortable lead. But Jean-Philippe Mateta pulled one back and was then fouled in the penalty area by Phil Foden, allowing Michael Olise to score from the spot in added time.


City flew straight out to Jeddah for their Club World Cup campaign and will play Urawa Reds on Tuesday before a potential final next weekend. They could return to the UK nine points off the top of the Premier League.


ALSO READ: City player ratings vs Palace as Grealish shines but Blues made to pay

ALSO READ: Scathing Pep Guardiola blasts careless Man City players for Crystal Palace draw

Here are your Sunday evening headlines.

Article continues below

Lewis admission

Lewis scored his first Premier League goal in Saturday's match against Palace. - but says he couldn't fully enjoy the moment as City ended up drawing 2-2.

City dominated possession and looked to be cruising at 2-0 up following goals from Grealish in the first half and Lewis nine minutes into the second. But Palace hit back with a 76th-minute Mateta goal before Olise equalised in the fifth minute of stoppage time with a penalty awarded after Foden caught Mateta in the box.


Speaking about the result afterwards, Lewis told City's official website: "We are very disappointed with the result, it's unfortunate with the performance we put in." He added: "It's football and stuff can happen that you don't expect, and that's what happened."

Read the full story here.

Palace gameplan


Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson praised his side for staying in the game on Saturday before hitting City on the counter-attack.

Palace came from two goals down to draw 2-2 at the Etihad, with Olise nicking a point with an added-time penalty following Mateta's close-range finish. City had given themselves breathing space with goals either side of half-time from Grealish and Lewis.

But despite dominating possession, Pep Guardiola's side failed to kill the game off and were made to pay or their complacency. A depleted Eagles side defended resolutely throughout and Henderson was delighted to come away with a point.

Article continues below

Read the full story here.

Follow Manchester Evening News:


Manchester City FCRico LewisPremier LeagueCrystal Palace FC
reach logo

At Reach and across our entities we and our partners use information collected through cookies and other identifiers from your device to improve experience on our site, analyse how it is used and to show personalised advertising. You can opt out of the sale or sharing of your data, at any time clicking the "Do Not Sell or Share my Data" button at the bottom of the webpage. Please note that your preferences are browser specific. Use of our website and any of our services represents your acceptance of the use of cookies and consent to the practices described in our Privacy Notice and Cookie Notice.