After Loss to Crystal Palace, Manchester City Now Fighting for 2nd Place

It was just under a year ago that Manchester City went to Selhurst Park and beat Crystal Palace 2-0, effectively winning the Premier League in the process. It came just after Chelsea had beaten Liverpool at Anfield, and the title-race pendulum swung firmly in City's favour.

The Blues needed to make a statement that day, and they did, controlling the game from the off with the result never really in doubt. They played like champions, and by the end of the game, there were very few who doubted it would be them holding the Premier League trophy aloft a few weeks later.

What a difference 12 months makes. After Arsenal and Manchester United's wins on Saturday, City went into Monday night's match against Palace in fourth, and their 2-1 defeat now leaves them in serious danger of finishing there. The fixture list is kinder to City than either of their nearest rivals, which may offer them a reprieve, but it's clear this has been a season of serious regression for Manuel Pellegrini's side.

Clive Rose/Getty Images

Quite how City left London with nothing to show for their efforts will remain a mystery for a long time, but despite their total domination, they simply couldn't score the goals needed to see off this ever-improving Palace side.

They had 22 attempts on goal to Palace's five and enjoyed 74 percent possession—the most any away side in the Premier League has managed in three seasons. Palace's opener was arguably offside, and Glenn Murray's clear handball inside the area in the second half was somehow missed by the officials. It just wasn't City's night, and any lingering hopes some may have had of a City title win were well and truly gone by full time.

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Manchester City have had 70% & 74% of possession in their last 2 PL away games. And lost both of them.

— Richard Jolly (@RichJolly) April 6, 2015"

Too often this season, City have come off second-best against teams with nowhere near the same quality they have, and that has proved to be their Achilles' heel. Stoke City, West Ham United, Burnley (twice), Hull City and Everton have all taken points off them this season. It's a deplorable record that gets to the heart of their failure to even come close to retaining their title.

Perhaps the players who brought City their recent success have come to the end of their cycle, with a reshaping of the squad this summer now needed. Yaya Toure, Vincent Kompany, David Silva and Sergio Aguero were key to City winning two league titles, an FA Cup and a League Cup in the last four seasons, but clearly, an injection of pace and youth is now needed.

City's squad is aging, and as Pellegrini pointed out in a recent interview with Sid Lowe in The Guardian, they need to sign a top-class player—something they haven't done during the Chilean's time at the club.

There's a very real sense that this could be a huge summer for the club. Free from the Financial Fair Play sanctions that limited their spending this summer and with a host of players likely to leave, City will spend big in an attempt to return to the summit of the league.

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pic.twitter.com/kMlevhVg5y

— City Watch (@City_Watch) April 6, 2015"

Whether or not Pellegrini will be part of that process remains to be seen. There are seldom few available managers who fit the club's criteria and would provide an upgrade on the current incumbent, but just four wins in 14 matches tells its own story. After a wonderful debut season, Pellegrini's handling of this one has been underwhelming, to say the least. It would hardly be a surprise if those in charge at the Etihad got rid given City's inept displays in recent months.

City face United next at Old Trafford on Sunday knowing defeat would make even the task of finishing second very difficult. They have seven games remaining with players playing for their futures and their manager fighting for his. They need to show more stomach than they have since the turn of the year if they want to salvage some pride from what's been a desperately disappointing season.

Rob Pollard is Bleacher Report's lead Manchester City correspondent and will be following the club from a Manchester base throughout the 2014-15 season. All quotes are obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter: @RobPollard.