Crystal Palace vs. Manchester City: Score and Reaction from 2015 Premier League

Teen star Kelechi Iheanacho scored the only goal in Saturday's top Premier League clash of the afternoon billing, as league-leaders Manchester City beat second-placed Crystal Palace 1-0.

The two teams were evenly matched for most of the afternoon, but Iheanacho took advantage of some poor defending in the final minutes to preserve the Citizens' perfect start to the season.

With defending champions Chelsea losing again on Saturday, City continue to build their lead at the top of the table. Arsenal are now their closest competitors, sitting five points behind Manuel Pellegrini's men.

As reported by Bleacher Report UK, new City signing Kevin De Bruyne was on the bench, while Raheem Sterling and David Silva were out of the matchday squad as Pellegrini made a number of changes to the team that looked so dominant during the first weeks of the Premier League season:

Crystal Palace started the match in dominant fashion, with Yannick Bolasie threatening early, but the first chance of the match fell to the visitors, as Wilfried Bony's header was saved by Eagles goalkeeper Alex McCarthy.

McCarthy again showed his class just minutes later, denying Samir Nasri after a surging run from the Frenchman.

Despite the two chances, Palace looked the more dangerous team early, with Bolasie in particular proving himself a handful. Jack Pitt-Brooke of the Independent liked what he saw from the hosts:

Pape Souare blasted a volley on goal that only just flashed across, and team-mate Yohan Cabaye was furious when the official refused to award a penalty after an apparent challenge from Fernandinho inside the box.

Per BBC 5 Live's Mark Pougatch, it was the wrong decision, although replays showed the official's view was blocked:

Scott Dann received the first booking of the match for a horror tackle on Sergio Aguero, catching the Argentina international straight on the knee. Aguero tried to carry on after receiving treatment but was obviously in a lot of pain, and after just 25 minutes, he was forced to leave the pitch.

The man coming on in his place? None other than De Bruyne himself, via BBC Sport:

The Belgian immediately made an impression, teeing up Bony within the first minutes of coming on. The former Swansea City man missed his chance, however.

He also did well to work the ball to Jesus Navas, but the Spaniard produced one of the worst shots you'll see all season, blasting an effort so far over it may have been closer to leaving the stadium then going in.

City controlled most of the first half after the Aguero injury, but both teams had chances to open the scoring in the final minutes. First, McCarthy did well to parry a De Bruyne strike, before Bakary Sako should have scored in injury time, putting his volley wide of goal after fantastic work from Wilfried Zaha.

Pitt-Brooke couldn't predict who would come out on top, as the two teams seemed very evenly matched at half-time:

Palace pushed the pace early in the second half, with Bolasie again finding plenty of success down the left wing, but City should have taken the lead in the 52nd minute. De Bruyne isolated Navas in front of McCarthy, and while the Spaniard did well to round the goalkeeper, he inexplicably rushed his shot, putting it wide of the open net.

The Manchester Evening News' Stuart Brennan couldn't believe it:

His colleague James Robson thought he couldn't have timed the comical miss any worse:

City controlled possession after the break, but chances were few. The Eagles defended with numbers and always looked to threaten on the counter, led by Bolasie and Zaha. Nasri tried his luck from 25 yards out, putting his shot over the bar, and Jason Puncheon came very close to scoring with a powerful header, only to be denied by Joe Hart.

Dwight Gayle also had a good chance to give the hosts the lead, but instead, the goal came at the other end of the pitch. Iheanacho, the substitute, took advantage of some dreadful defending to push the ball into the net after McCarthy could only parry Nasri's shot back into traffic.

Per BBC's John Bennett, the teenager scored with his very first touch:

The Eagles tried to push for a late equaliser but nearly conceded a second goal, with Yaya Toure heading the ball wide of goal.

City's record is still perfect after five weeks of Premier League football, and with West Ham United traveling to the Etihad next week, there's no reason to doubt that will change anytime soon.

The Citizens will have to focus on the Champions League first, however, and with Aguero, Silva and Sterling all possibly missing the match against last year's finalists Juventus, that won't be an easy task.

Crystal Palace will look to rebound when they visit White Hart Lane for a match against Tottenham Hotspur, who have started the season in dismal form. If Alan Pardew's men were ever going to beat their city rivals, now would be the perfect time. 

Post-Match Reaction

Despite the loss, Eagles manager Alan Pardew enjoyed the match, via the club's official Twitter account:

Scorer Iheanacho told Mark Booth of City's official website how important the goal was to him:

"

It means so much to me. I'm happy and very grateful and I thank the manager for introducing me.

The fans went crazy when I scored. We are all happy.  Palace is a great team - they have done well to be second in the Premier League table.

I will try to do my best in in training and in games if I'm introduced. I'm hoping to do great for the team. It's not easy. We have great players here but I have to keep working hard. We are much stronger this season with quality players. We are going to go all the way.

"