Manchester City, Chelsea get unwanted Christmas presents

Manchester City and Chelsea fans were treated to a surprise Christmas party at home when Crystal Palace and Leicester City came visiting on Saturday.

While the Citizens were stunned 3-2 by Palace, the Blues suffered similar fate at the hands of the Foxes but with a one-goal margin.

Andros Townsend scored a spectacular volley as Crystal Palace came from behind to leave the reigning champions four points behind leaders Liverpool.

The start of the game looked routine for the home side, who welcomed back John Stones and Raheem Sterling into the side, as they created a string of chances and took a deserved lead through Ilkay Gundogan.

But the game took a dramatic twist. First Jeffrey Schlupp, back from suspension, equalised from the edge of the box before Townsend scored a Christmas cracker of a strike from around 30 yards which flew into the top corner.

Pep Guardiola threw on Sergio Aguero but the Eagles increased their lead when Kyle Walker conceded a penalty for bringing down Max Meyer and Luka Milivojevic converted the spot-kick for his fifth of the season.

Kevin De Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez came on for the latter stages with City throwing the kitchen sink at the visitors but it was not their day with Leroy Sane’s free-kick hitting the post.

De Bruyne set up a grandstand finish when his cross flew into the net but Palace defended brilliantly to cling on and climb to 15th in the table and condemn City to their first home defeat of the season in the league.

Chelsea, meanwhile, found no reply for Jamie Vardy’s strike in the 51st minute.

The striker employed a neat touch to knock the ball home into the top of the net, combining well with James Maddison.