While Kevin De Bruyne went through a few biggest hits during his farewell trip, there were encouraging signs for Pep Guardiola in his search to reinforce Manchester City without the Mercurial Belgian. Ingredients for a new magical formula were clearly in an exciting comeback that was a antidote for last weekend's stalemate.
Young people who showed that they had hardened difficult times in Etihad? Tap.
Seniors who indicate that they can continue to offer know -how once De Bruyne has left? Tap. The most important thing is that the chance to get Champions League football to attract A-Listers to help Rodri and Erling Haaland improve, with City now only two points on the third Nottingham Forest placed.
It was achieved with a De Bruyne target and assist, but also a few 20-year-olds, Rico Lewis and Nico O'Reilly, on full back and the 22-year-old James McATEEE scored at his first start to start for City.
Lewis, in the city of eight years, made the point that after years of success it was a steep learning curve in front of Guardiola.
“Everything I have known since I entered the first team is winning trophies,” said the sympathetic mancunian. 'This is the first season that we had the amount of problems in which there have been difficult periods and it was good to learn from it.
'It comes with every career, ups and downs. But I think that if this happened again, we will prepare better for it, and that also applies to me personally.
'At the start of the season I was really happy. We flew. Then nobody expected the amount of injuries we were given. It has struck everyone and I think the players who were still there and fight. Only we know how much effort we have made and how much we wanted to do well at the bad moments.
“This victory sends a message that we are concentrating on our goal of Champions League and we are going to achieve it.”
De Bruyne feels positive about the next gene. “There have been so many good players from the academy in the last 10 years,” said the 33-year-old. “They get their chances and grab them. This will help them with their self -confidence. '
Lewis appointed De Bruyne, Ruben Dias and Ilkay Gundogan as the trio that brought the right dressing room messages in difficult periods.
De Bruyne is going, but the 34-year-old Gundogan enjoys a revival in shape that was tough in the first half of the season.
More than ever, Guardiola will need a changing room leaders and with the German who played the amount of competitions to activate a contract extension, it is expected that he will get a role.
“The Gundo here, the Gundo in Bournemouth and Leicester, that's the Gundo I remember,” said Guardiola. 'The one who helped us win the Treble and the four -fold and was such an important player. His defensive intelligence, the way he arrives, helps us enormously.
'Everyone has been downstairs and under their best, but when a team plays well, the individual levels rise. You can't do it without it. I don't know what will happen, but he (Gundogan) has been on his contract here for another year. '
The only disadvantage was that goalkeeper Edererson hung away with a muscular issue that had previously helped McATee's goal. It is worth remembering that City was already without Haaland. Rodri, Phil Foden, John Stones, Manuel Akanji and Nathan Ake on Saturday due to injury.
Palace found it difficult to cope without one important player, the suspended Marc Guehi. “Every team misses his captain,” Eagles Baas Oliver Glasner admitted. “But no one was at their highest level.”
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