Manchester City came from behind to smash Crystal Palace 4-2 in the Saturday lunchtime kick-off at Selhurst Park.

Jean-Philippe Mateta fired Palace ahead early on before Kevin De Bruyne’s stunning leveller had Pep Guardiola blowing kisses from the dugout.

But Oliver Glasner’s smart setup, a five-man backline counter-attacking with power, pace and precision caused City problems until De Bruyne and Rico Lewis proved the gamebreakers. Free to wander forward from right-back and with all the finesse and calmness of a right winger, the young defender completed the comeback shortly after the break to keep his team within touching distance of the Premier League summit.

As Palace ran out of steam, Erling Haaland added a third before De Bruyne’s second, his 100th goal for City, put them level on points with Liverpool.

Guardiola admitted pre-match that City will have to win every one of their games to lift the title and yet they fell behind after just three minutes, with only themselves to blame.

A loose pass from John Stones picked out only Adam Wharton, who found Mateta in behind with a lovely first-time ball that caught Stones on his heels as the striker raced through and scored via the inside of the far post.

Holding onto a lead for any period of time against this City team is a decent feat and few would have backed Palace to withstand an 87-minute barrage, although Dean Henderson put up a good fight with saves to deny Julian Alvarez and Rodri.

However, after 13 minutes, De Bruyne whipped an unstoppable shot into the top corner on his return to the XI.

Palace nonetheless held plenty of threat on the counter with plenty of bodies, confidence and quick balls in behind to trouble the visitors. Haaland was denied a quickfire second shortly after the leveller and Jordan Ayew hit the bar just before the break.

City seized control within two minutes of the restart. Having brought Manuel Akanji on at left-back during the break, they attacked down that flank and a cross fell for Lewis, who had wandered under-the-radar into the box and he finished confidently into the corner.

Lewis was again at the heart of things as the visitors nearly made it 3-1, as De Bruyne’s cute header led to Haaland rounding the keeper and a cut-back found Julian Alvarez - only for his shot to be blocked by Joachim Andersen lying prone on the turf.

That combination proved decisive to ensure the three points returned to Manchester as De Bruyne crossed low for Haaland to finish midway through the second half. With 20 minutes still on the clock and the Eagles drained, the result began to turn into a rout as De Bruyne’s missile-like volley made it four.

Palace threw Odsonne Edouard on to cut the deficit in the final knockings, shortly after seeing a chance expertly blocked after Akanji’s error by his own area, but it was to prove City’s day in south London.