Manchester City edged two points clear of Arsenal at the top of the Premier League thanks to Edin Dzeko's second-half strike against Crystal Palace this afternoon.
The Bosnian scored the only goal of the game as City maintained their 100% home record this season against a stubborn Palace outfit.
Here, Sports Mole takes a closer look on City's 10th win at the Etihad.
Match statistics:
City:
Shots 23
On target 4
Possession 77%
Corners 12
Fouls 12
Palace:
Shots 9
On target 4
Possession 23%
Corners 5
Fouls 7
Was the result fair?
It was expected to be a rout, but City only just deserved the points today. Yes, they had a ton more shots than their opponents but you'll notice above that the shot-on-target count was exactly the same. Had it not been for some excellent shot-stopping by Joe Hart, the result could have been very different.
City's performance
Manuel Pellegrini rested the likes of Alvaro Negredo and Yaya Toure and things did look a little flat in the first half. The Spanish duo of David Silva and Jesus Navas provided some clever movement but there was little end product from the hosts as Fernandinho looked the most dangerous in the opening 45. After half time it was more of the same as City failed to really break down Palace and test Julian Speroni. The goal came after a poor clearance from the Eagles that allowed Navas to bide his time and find the run of Dzeko. Far from vintage City at the Etihad, but just about good enough.
Palace's performance
Tony Pulis will no doubt be immensely proud of his players but there will also be a sense of disappointment that his side couldn't take anything from the game. The likes of Yannick Bolasie and Jason Puncheon certainly had City's backline a little worried throughout and the latter tested Hart with a vicious strike after half time. Joel Ward also brought a fine save out of Hart before then heading over the resulting corner. So the Eagles definitely had chances to snatch a draw and although they didn't take them, the performance was certainly one Pulis will be content with.
Sports Mole's man of the match
Joe Hart: The England international made three crucial saves after recovering from a badly-cut eye in the opening half sustained from a brave 50-50 challenge with Palace striker Cameron Jerome, who had to leave the field injured after the incident. Had it not been for Hart's gloves, we might be talking about a famous point for Palace.
Biggest gaffe
Hard to pick one in particular but Ward should have done better with his back-post header after Hart had tipped his shot wide just after Dzeko scored.
Referee performance
Andre Marriner had very little problems to deal with today. Tempers didn't flare and there wasn't a single penalty appeal that I can recall.
What next?
City: New Year's Day sees the Premier League have its third set of fixtures in six days and City are on the road at Swansea City.
Palace: Palace, meanwhile, begin 2014 with a home fixture against fellow bottom-half side Norwich City.
Pascal Lemesre
