Pep Guardiola impressed by Crystal Palace as they pull off victory at Manchester City

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola praised Crystal Palace for their performance as they stunned the Premier League title contenders today.

Wilfried Zaha gave the South Londoners the lead in the first half before Conor Gallagher wrapped up the points late on.

Aymeric Laporte was dismissed as Palace won at the Etihad for the second time in four seasons.

“It could be a yellow or red,” said Guardiola on Laporte’s dismissal. “It depends on the referee and what he thinks. The goal, I imagine the linesman says he’s offside.

“We didn’t lose because of that. We conceded the first goal and we weren’t able to score a goal but after that we were really good and for 25-30 minutes of the second half we were good.

“But when you play 50 minutes with 10 against 11, it is difficult for a team like us because you need the process and to do everything right.

“The players showed character and tried, but unfortunately many, many things went wrong and we lost the game.”

The Manchester City boss gave an indication of what he expected from the Eagles before they visited the Etihad Stadium.

“Good strong defence, three midfielders defending and winning duels, winning the ball, blocks and then using the counter with Zaha up front and with fast players,” he added.

“It’s always tough because of that reason. They have very good players. When they get the ball, they keep it and want to play. I said after the Brighton game to prepare mentally straight away because it would be very difficult.

“I saw against Brighton and Arsenal so I knew perfectly how difficult they are and they showed it today.”