David Silva scored twice on Saturday as Manchester City joined Chelsea at the top of the table with victory over Crystal Palace.
The reigning champions had struggled to break down a resilient Palace side until the Spaniard made the breakthrough soon after half-time.
His deflected shot off Scott Dann inside the area gave goalkeeper Julian Speroni little chance.
Silva then slotted in from Aleksandar Kolarov’s cross before Yaya Toure smashed in after a swift break.
With no senior striker available, midfielder James Milner was deployed as makeshift forward.
The victory means City have recorded eight consecutive wins in all competitions and, perhaps more telling, are now only second to Chelsea – who have played a game less – on goal difference having been nine points behind them six games ago.
City would have taken the outright Premier League lead had they scored a fourth, although after a frustrating first half, that target surely would have been revised to just getting three points.
Leaders Chelsea travel to the Britannia Stadium to face hard fighting Stoke on Monday.
