Five-star Manchester City put pointless Crystal Palace to the sword as Raheem Sterling scores a brace

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A glance at the Premier League table on Saturday morning suggested that this should be a cakewalk for Manchester City, the division’s leaders and joint-top scorers, against a Crystal Palace outfit that has made the worst-ever start to a top-flight season.

The south Londoners made them wait for their walkover, however. Like a typical Roy Hodgson team, sitting deep and thoroughly drilled, Palace had several chances to take the lead and frustrated their hosts for the best part of the first 45 minutes. Then, the floodgates opened.

Once Leroy Sané’s brilliant breakthrough put City ahead on the cusp of half-time, it felt inevitable that this contest would end with a large margin on the scoreboard. A Raheem Sterling brace, a Sergio Aguero header and a late beauty from forgotten man Fabian Delph made it five in all and consigned the visitors to their sixth consecutive defeat.

Palace still have no win, no points or no goals in a season that, at six weeks old, can hardly be called ‘new’ anymore, and they almost shot themselves in the foot as early as the seventh minute. Mamadou Sakho, making his first Premier League start since completing his long-awaited move from Liverpool last month, thought it wise to clear a Kevin De Bruyne cross by sending a diving header towards his own goal. It hit the post.

That moment sent a shudder through the away support but it was not long before Palace responded in kind. Ruben Loftus-Cheek, the young Chelsea loanee searching for his first consistent run of top-flight minutes, caught the eye playing off lone striker Christian Benteke and no more so than when some nimble footwork beat John Stones and his deflected shot hit the outside of the upright.

The 21-year-old had another chance to end Palace’s record-breaking wait for a Premier League goal – which now stands at 540 long minutes – when a Timothy Fosu-Mensah cross deflected into his path off Fernandinho, but his sliced attempt glanced across the face of goal. It was the home support’s turn to be nervy now and they will also be sweating over the fitness of Benjamin Mendy, who departed on the half hour mark after injuring himself in a clumsy tackle on Andros Townsend.

With the half-time whistle nearing, Guardiola called a ball-boy over for what looked like a forceful chat. The message was clear: release it quicker, we need to score. He did not have long to wait. Sané and David Silva had already combined effectively to tee up Sergio Aguero, only for the Argentine to loft a clear chance over the crossbar.

This time, they took matters into their own hands, exchanging a neat one-two, with Silva lifting the ball over the top of on-rushing Palace defenders. Sané still had a man to beat but did so brilliantly, playing Paul Gascoigne to Scott Dann’s Colin Hendry, before slotting in at Hennessey’s near post. It was a sublime goal.

Palace’s resistance was now broken and from thereon, the game played out as predicted. Sterling’s first was a painfully simple goal to concede from Hodgson’s perspective, with the winger free to guide Sané’s cut-back into the net after being found in space at the far post. He should have added another minutes later from a similar position after Hennessey failed to claim a cross but, from a tight angle, hit the side-netting.

He found his second just before the hour mark and it was another finish taken with ease after Aguero sent De Bruyne’s raking pass back across the face of goal. Palace’s heads, by this point, had fully dropped and City were able to have their way with them.

Even with his players in full flow, Guardiola still found time to rage at the officials on occasion and was particularly displeased by their failure to award a penalty against Fosu-Mensah, who tugged Sané down in the box while City were searching for their fourth. No matter though, as it came a few minutes later.

Aguero, who began the day three goals away from surpassing Eric Brook as City’s all-time leading goalscorer, moved one step closer to the record by heading the ball through Hennessey’s limp hands. It was left to Delph, on for Stones, to round off the victory and the midfielder did so in emphatic fashion, arcing a long-range effort in off the underside of the crossbar. More misery for Palace, but City were in no mood to show mercy.

Manchester City (4-3-3): Ederson; Walker, Stones (Delph 70), Otamendi, Mendy (Danilo 29); De Bruyne, Fernandinho, D Silva; Sterling (Bernardo 61), Aguero, Sané.

Substitutes not used: Bravo, Toure, Jesus, Mangala.

Crystal Palace (4-4-1-1): Hennessey; Fosu-Mensah, Sakho, Dann, Van Aanholt; Townsend, Milivojevic, Cabaye (Puncheon 57), Schlupp; Loftus-Cheek; Benteke (Sako 72).

Substitutes not used: Speroni, Tomkins, Ward, McArthur, Riedewald.

Referee: Neil Swarbrick (Lancashire)