Crystal Palace vs Man City: ‘Textbook’ Haaland goal gives visitors lead in Premier League
Erling Haaland headed the opener in Palace vs Man City
Erling Haaland headed his 16th goal of the Premier League season to put Manchester City ahead against the run of play at Crystal Palace on Sunday.
Top-flight top scorer Haaland directed Matheus Nunes’ cross past goalkeeper Dean Henderson four minutes before half-time at Selhurst Park, where Palace had hit the post through Yeremy Pino’s strike from inside the box.
Inevitable!
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) December 14, 2025
Erling Haaland heads home at Selhurst Park 🤖 pic.twitter.com/s5BPsa8PTZ
“What more can we say about this goalscorer extraordinaire?” former Palace winger Jobi McAnuff asked BBC Sport.
“He’s hardly been in the game and hardly touched the ball but, as a soon as a bit of quality comes into the box – and it was a brilliant cross – he’s just got that knack of knowing where to be at the right time.
“It’s a fantastic delivery from Nunes. Textbook header back across the goal and Henderson can’t get anywhere near it.”
You can also follow live text updates from the match here.
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Palace vs Man City: Haaland goal raises ‘question marks’
McAnuff was less impressed by his former club’s marking for the goal. “For large periods of that first half, Crystal Palace did a great job in frustrating Manchester City – blocking those spaces in the midfield areas and forcing them wide,” he said.
“There are a few question marks over that Palace defence, which has been so good this season. How have [they] allowed Haaland to get a bit of space?
“We know what happens when he does. Haaland’s just the best in the business.”
The Cityzens had won their previous four straight matches in all competitions, including a 3-0 home win over Sunderland on December 6 and a 2-1 victory at Real Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Crystal Palace team vs Manchester City
Palace made five changes, bringing in Dean Henderson in goal, defenders Nathaniel Clyne and Tyrick Mitchell and forwards Jean Philippe-Mateta and Ismaila Sarr.
Walter Benitez, Justin Devenny, Borna Sosa, Eddie Nketiah and Christantus Uche made way. Centre-back Jaydee Canvot was on the bench following illness, with fellow centre-back Chadi Riad (knee) out injured.
Daniel Munoz was absent until January with a knee injury, while fellow wideman Rio Cardines had a groin problem. Midfielder Cheick Doucoure also had a knee issue.
Palace had won their previous three games, following up away wins over Burnley and Fulham with victory at Shelbourne in the Conference League on Thursday.
Crystal Palace starting XI: Dean Henderson, Chris Richards, Maxence Lacroix, Marc Guehi, Nathaniel Clyne, Adam Wharton, Daichi Kamada, Tyrick Mitchell, Ismaila Sarr, Jean-Philippe Mateta, Yeremy Pino
Palace substitutes: Walter Benitez, Jefferson Lerma, Eddie Nketiah, Christantus Uche, Will Hughes, Romain Esse, Jaydee Canvot, Borna Sosa, Justin Devenny
Man City team vs Crystal Palace
Midfielders Rodri and Mateo Kovacic remained out for City, who made one change by replacing Jeremy Doku with Tijjani Reijnders.
Manchester City starting XI: Gianluigi Donnarumma, Matheus Nunes, Rúuben Dias, Josko Gvardiol, Nico O’Reilly, Bernardo Silva, Rayan Cherki, Nico Gonzalez, Phil Foden, Tijjani Reijnders, Erling Haaland
Man City substitutes: James Trafford, Nathan Ake, Omar Marmoush, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Savinho, Abdukodir Khusanov, Oscar Bobb, Divine Mukasa, Rico Lewis
How to watch Palace vs Man City: Live online stream, TV channel
Kick-off on Sunday was at 14:00 GMT (09:00 ET / 06:00 PT). Live TV coverage in the UK is on Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Ultra.
Via Now TV, Sky Sports costs £14.99 for a day membership, £28 a month for a 12-month membership or £34.99 a month with no contract.
Sky Sports memberships include access to all 12 live Sky Sports channels and Sky Sports+, which offers live streams and a dedicated channel.
Streaming is available on a vast variety of devices via the Sky GO app.
Crystal Palace vs Man City stats
- Crystal Palace are winless in their last 10 Premier League home games against Man City (D3 L7) since a 2-1 victory under Alan Pardew in April 2015
- Palace’s Eddie Nketiah has scored 21 of his 24 Premier League goals in London (18 at home, 3 away), the highest percentage of any player to score 20 goals in the history of the competition (87.5%).
- City are the leading Premier League scorers this season with 35 goals, while they also lead the way for xG (30.0). They have the third best overperformance on xG in the division (5 goals), behind Tottenham (10.1) and Aston Villa (5.6).
Premier League results and fixtures this weekend
Arsenal beat Wolves 2-1 at home on Saturday courtesy of Yerson Mosquera’s 94th-minute own goal, winning after Chelsea earned their first victory in four games in all competitions with a 2-0 home defeat of Everton.
Mohamed Salah came off the bench as reigning champions Liverpool beat Brighton & Hove Albion 2-0, and Fulham ended a two-match losing run with victory at Burnley.
All fixtures start at 14:00 GMT unless stated otherwise.
Saturday, December 13
Chelsea 2-0 Everton
Liverpool 2-0 Brighton
Burnley 2-3 Fulham
Arsenal 2-1 Wolves
Sunday, December 14
Palace vs Man City
Nottingham Forest vs Tottenham
Sunderland vs Newcastle
West Ham vs Aston Villa
Brentford vs Leeds United (16:30)
Monday, December 15
Manchester United vs Bournemouth (20:00)