Pep Guardiola praises the ‘special’ qualities of Erling Haaland and Rayan Cherki after Manchester City’s win over Crystal Palace

Guardiola praised Haaland for more than just scoring, and singled out Cherki for deftly setting up Foden’s goal in the second half.

“Erling is a goal-scoring forward, but he holds the ball in the second half,” the City manager told Sky Sports. “He was able to control the situation. He helped us come together. In the second half he was outstanding.

“In the first half, we rushed too much. We talked about the spaces we should attack, but we lacked patience. After that, we played at the tempo we should have.

“Ryan has special vision with his quality in the final third.”

“It’s a really difficult place to come to. When you lose the ball they attack incredibly well, but we were patient,” Guardiola said of the win over Palace, who were in good form and flying high under Oliver Glasner.

“We were lucky when they hit the post with (Adam) Wharton, but I’m really pleased with how that performance and win helped us grow mentally.”

Goalscorer Foden, who has scored seven goals in 14 Premier League appearances this season, echoed Guardiola’s sentiments.

“It’s a really difficult match,” he said. “We know what they are, they make it tricky, set up well and have quality players on the break.

“In the first half, we were just trying to figure them out. In the second half, we started to hurt them more and eventually we stopped the game.

“The most important thing is patience. I think maybe we tried to attack too early. In the second half we did much better. That was the key to getting today’s result. We had more control and more passing. That’s the City way. This is a complete team performance.”

“I’m really happy. I’ve been in great form in the Premier League recently and I’m happy to continue that.”

Man City: “We’re not ready to win the UCL, but we’ll be better in February” – Guardiola

Video credit: TNT Sports

Meanwhile, Palace manager Glasner said his team would “take lessons” from their second home defeat of the season.

“(The result) feels a bit wrong but we have to accept it,” he said on BBC Match of the Day. “This is how important games are decided. It was a close one.

“I thought City were better in the box. We had 16 shots, but losing 3-0 was a tough moment. We will take lessons from this game. We need these games to grow, develop and progress.”

“We had three or four big chances so we tried to score and get back into the game and we felt like if we scored then something could happen.

“Great crosses, great movement and great headers. That’s what Haaland is and why he scores 40 goals for the season. Today’s performance was better than in the FA Cup final, but we were efficient and City missed it.”