In a repeat of May’s FA Cup final, Manchester City beat Crystal Palace 3-0, thanks to a brace from Erling Haaland (£15.0m) and a fine strike from Phil Foden (£8.7m).

Here are our Scout Notes from Selhurst Park.

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HAALAND + FODEN ON TARGET

This match didn’t quite feel like a 3-0; however, City took the few chances they had, in stark contrast to Palace’s wastefulness in front of goal.

It helps, of course, when you have Haaland and Foden in this kind of form.

Haaland feels like a cheat code most weeks and was particularly clinical here, nodding in Matheus Nunes’ (£5.3m) first-half cross, before dispatching a late penalty. These were the only shots taken by the Norwegian.

As for Foden, he picked out the bottom corner with a low, drilled finish and has now scored seven Premier League goals in 2025/26, with six of those across the last four matches.

He also claimed defensive contribution (DefCon) points and a share of the bonus, largely impressing, despite Pep Guardiola’s critique of his performance.

“I know people may think differently but I think Phil today was not good, he didn’t play at his best. He lost a lot of balls, he was in a rush with decisions and was so anxious. He has to keep the ball and be associated with the other ones and in the right moments make explosions that only he has in terms of goals and assists.

“Before he arrives there, he has to be calmer. But he wants to do it well and sometimes he makes situations not clear but Phil in terms of work ethic defensively, how he presses, how he comes back, he is incredible. Even with my opinion today, one of the best at the end was Phil. He ran maybe the most in the team and scored a goal because close to the box he was unbelievable.

“He has a lot of margin to understand the game. He will not improve this incredible quality because it is top but understanding the game, the way you have certain moments, the way you have to accelerate or decelerate, just the timing of the tempo he will give it. Everyone has a margin to improve. Everyone.” – Pep Guardiola on Phil Foden

CREATIVE CHERKI / DOKU INJURY

With no Jeremy Doku (£6.6m), Rayan Cherki (£6.4m) and Foden played in support of Haaland up front.

Cherki consequently notched his seventh assist of the season, placing him joint-top in the standings:

A constant threat to Palace’s defence, all of Cherki’s assists have arrived in the last seven Gameweeks.

His rate of 29 minutes per chance created over the season is one of the best in the Premier League, too.

Doku, meanwhile, missed out on Sunday due to a leg injury, although Guardiola didn’t offer any more information or discuss a timeframe.

Elsewhere, Rayan Ait-Nouri (£5.7m) and Omar Marmoush (£8.3m) were both on the bench but will now head off to the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

PEP’S BACK FOUR “CONNECTION”

Guardiola appears to have established his favoured back four, with Nunes, Ruben Dias (£5.6m), Josko Gvardiol (£5.9m) and Nico O’Reilly (£5.3m) helping City claim a clean sheet at Selhurst Park, marking their seventh of the top-flight campaign.

“All four they were there. They played together a lot lately for obvious reasons, when you play together, the connection is important. We can rotate in certain positions but as much as defenders are there it’s important.

“Pace and composure from both full-backs and the leadership from Ruben. Ruben is an incredible leader. Consistent and no injuries. His professionalism the day after or the day before, and how he leads his mates and an incredible signing for many years. He’s a real captain and real leader.” – Pep Guardiola

Further praise was reserved for Nunes, who supplied the cross for Haaland’s opener.

“Matheus is growing all the time. He can be an incredible full-back. He is adapting and the cross is really good and that is Erling’s strength.” – Pep Guardiola on Matheus Nunes

SARR RETURN SHORT-LIVED

That said, City’s defence was breached several times, with Yeremy Pino (£5.8m) and Adam Wharton (£5.0m) hitting the bar and post respectively.

Ismaila Sarr (£6.4m) missed a decent one-on-one opportunity, too, so it’s fair to say City benefited from some fortune in keeping a clean sheet.

Sarr replaced Eddie Nketiah (£5.4m) in the starting XI, but his return will be short-lived, with the 27-year-old due to report for AFCON duty this week.

In a further blow, Daichi Kamada (£5.0m) picked up a hamstring injury.

“It looks like his hamstring. When he landed, he over-stretched his knee, and that means the hamstring got the full stretch because he never had any muscle injury before. It was just an incident and he can hardly walk. It looks pretty bad. But he will have a scan tomorrow, then we will know more. I think we will lose him for a couple of weeks, but it’s a chance for other players to step up.” – Oliver Glasner on Daichi Kamada

Palace are now set to face a run of three matches in six days across three competitions next week, pushing their squad to its limits.

• Thu 18 Dec: KuPS (h) – Conference League
• Sat 20 Dec: Leeds (a) – Gameweek 17
• Tue 23 Dec: Arsenal (a) – Carabao Cup