Man City survive Crystal Palace scare to climb into Premier League top four

Manchester City stormed back from two goals down to thrash Crystal Palace 5-2 as Kevin De Bruyne’s masterclass kept alive their top-five challenge.

Pep Guardiola’s side were in danger of suffering a major setback in their bid to reach the Champions League after goals from Eberechi Eze and Chris Richards put Palace in control at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.

But, in his first home match since announcing he would leave at the end of the season, De Bruyne stole the show with the kind of dynamic display that made him one of the Premier League’s all-time greats before his recent injury-plagued decline.

The Belgian midfielder, who has been at City since 2015, netted to prompt the revival before Omar Marmoush equalised late in the first half.

Mateo Kovacic converted De Bruyne’s assist to put City ahead after the interval and goals from youngsters James McAtee and Nico O’Reilly sealed the stirring escape act.

The only concern for Guardiola was an injury to Ederson that forced the City keeper to come off in the second half.

Guardiola said this week he was optimistic City would qualify for the Champions League because their “spirit” is back after a troubled campaign.

City had dropped out of the top five after Newcastle’s win at Leicester on Monday, but this much-needed victory lifted them into fourth place.

Although City are back in the Champions League places, they are still not in control of their destiny.