Erling Haaland's 28th goal of the Premier League season guided Manchester City to a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace on Saturday evening.
The defending league champions recalled Bernardo Silva and John Stones following the win over Newcastle United, with Kevin de Bruyne and Kyle Walker dropping to the bench.
The Citizens nearly got off to the perfect start when a clearance landed at the feet of midfielder Rodri, who unleashed a powerful volley that parried away by Vicente Guaita.
Pep Guardiola's charges went close to breaking Palace's resistance in the 27th minute when Nathan Ake broke into the box before picking out Erling Haaland, who fired over from close range.
Palace, meanwwhile, were unable to get their foot on the ball in the first half as they looked to use the pace of Michael Olise and Wilfried Zaha on the counter, although they were unsuccessful.
City came out firing in the second half and managed to carve out another opening at goal, but Guita produced a superb save to keep out Phil Foden's free-kick from the edge of the box.
That was Foden's final contribution as he made way for Julian Alavrez, who could have made the perfect impact after beating his man with a neat turn before firing over the crossbar.
However, City were awarded a penalty in the 77th minute when Ilkay Gündogan was brought down by Olie's clumsey challenge in the box. Haaland took responsibility and calmly slotted into the bottom corner.
Palace coach Patrick Vieira responded with a double change as Eberechi Eze and Odsonne Édouard replaced Olise and Jordan Ayew for the final ten minutes of the second half.
The late introductions were unable to have the desired effect as Guardiola's charges held on for the win to move two points behind Arsenal.
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