FOOTBALL – Manchester City gave Kevin De Bruyne a victory in his final appearance at Etihad Stadium, as Omar Marmoush, Bernardo Silva and Nico Gonzalez scored in a 3-1 Premier League win over Bournemouth last night that saw them climb to third in the table.
City have 68 points with one game remaining, two points above Newcastle United, Chelsea and Aston Villa in the nervy chase for a top-five finish and Champions League qualification.
Both sides finished the game with 10 men after City’s Mateo Kovacic was shown a red card in the 67th minute, followed by Lewis Cook for the visitors in the 73rd.
Marmoush scored in the 14th minute when he drifted forward before unleashing a scorcher from 30 yards out that dipped just inside the top-left corner.
Silva doubled their lead in the 38th when Ilkay Gundogan cut the ball back for the Portuguese who slotted it in at the near post. Gonzalez scored in the 89th with a run from deep before whipping the ball past goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Daniel Jebbison pulled one back for Bournemouth seconds before the final whistle.
But the night belonged to captain De Bruyne, who played an emotional final game at Etihad Stadium after an illustrious 10-year career for City.
The Belgian, however, had a ridiculous first-half miss, hammering Marmoush’s cross off the underside of the crossbar from close range and then holding his head in disbelief.
Meanwhile, Eddie Nketiah scored twice on Crystal Palace’s party night as they celebrated their FA Cup triumph in style with a 4-2 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League last night.
Palace’s last home game of the season came three days after they beat Manchester City at Wembley to claim the first major silverware in the south London club’s history and there were euphoric scenes as they hit back to take the three points.
The carnival atmosphere was interrupted briefly when Wolves took the lead through Emmanuel Agbadou’s 24th-minute header but Selhurst Park was really rocking when Nketiah struck twice in the space of five minutes before halftime.
Ben Chilwell’s free kick deflected off of Agbadou’s head to make it 3-1 in the 50th minute and the noise in the stadium barely diminished when Wolves reduced the deficit with a glancing header from Jorgen Strand Larsen.
Twelfth-placed Palace, who made six changes to the side that started against City, brought on Cup final goal hero Eberechi Eze in the 81st minute and he put the icing on the cake with an angled finish after a jinking run.
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