De Bruyne shines as Man City roar back to crush Palace 5-2

MANCHESTER, England :Kevin de Bruyne helped Manchester City stage a superb comeback from 2-0 down as he scored one and helped create two goals in an emphatic 5-2 win over Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday.

City ended 11th-placed Palace's eight-game unbeaten run in all competitions, as they climbed to fourth in the standings, two points ahead of Chelsea and Newcastle United who have played fewer matches.

De Bruyne, who is set to leave City in the summer after 10 years at the club, said he wanted to help the team secure a place in the Champions League.

"We have been in the Champions League for the nine, 10 years that I've been here so I hope we can do that for the team next year and I'll just try to play good football like I've always done," the 33-year-old told the BBC.

Errors cost City as Palace scored twice in the first 21 minutes, with Eberechi Eze giving the visitors an eighth-minute lead through Ismaila Sarr's cross which evaded a sliding Josko Gvardiol to find the England winger.

Unmarked Eze struck the ball past out-of-position keeper Ederson to score his third league goal of the season.

Adam Wharton's inch-perfect corner led to Palace's second goal 13 minutes later, as Chris Richards nodded home from close range.

Eze found the net again in the 29th minute but the semi-automatic offside technology, which made its Premier League debut in this match, found him offside.

SHORT-LIVED

Palace's hopes proved to be short-lived, however, as City captain De Bruyne, who had hit the post earlier, stepped up to kickstart the hosts' comeback shortly after the half-hour mark.

With Daichi Kamada bringing down Nico Gonzalez 25 yards out, De Bruyne delivered a precise right-footed free kick that found the gap in the wall created