Yaya Toure's Redemption Complete as His Brace Earns Manchester City Victory

Manchester City’s form going into their match at Crystal Palace on Saturday was patchy, as Pep Guardiola’s team had struggled to break through stubborn defences and failed to remain resolute at the back.

Few would have expected the answer to those problems would have been a 33-year-old midfielder, frozen out of the team at the beginning of the season and looking destined to leave in the not-too-distant future.

Many thought Yaya Toure had played his last game for City in the 1-0 home victory over Steaua Bucharest in the Champions League playoff second leg in August, especially when the manager commented that the Ivorian wouldn’t be involved in first-team affairs until he or his agent, Dimitri Seluk, apologised for previous comments.

That didn’t look like coming until out of the blue, in the early hours of Nov. 4, a statement was posted on Toure’s website and Facebook page, saying sorry to the club on behalf of himself and his representative.

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Yaya Toure's apology statement in full: pic.twitter.com/pIoAMtxGJ2

— City Watch (@City_Watch) November 4, 2016"

His redemption was complete when his two goals earned his team three vital points at Selhurst Park. His first, a smashed effort into the top corner after a one-two with Nolito, was classic Toure—many think his lung-busting drives from midfield, beating multiple men en route to goal, are his trademark, but the powerful drive into the net from just inside or outside the area is more his thing.

The second was less like him. He ghosted into the six-yard box unmarked at a corner and slid the ball home.

After the match, Guardiola felt vindicated by his surprise decision to throw the midfielder back into the starting lineup, telling reporters:

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I'm so happy for Yaya Toure because he's a really nice guy. We now have one more man that can help us achieve our targets this season. The last two months he was amazing in the training sessions. [His] behaviour was absolutely perfect. His teammates love him. He's another guy who will help us with the rotation in the team.

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Perhaps the City boss might have been sorry that the apology didn’t come earlier in his team's poor run of form. What the club would have given for a driving force from midfield, another excellent passer of the ball and a man who could make a goal out of nothing in recent weeks.

It had been looking like the same old story for City. They were dominating possession in the opening half but had little to show for it in the way of chances. Neither goalkeeper was unduly troubled before Toure rifled in the opener in the 39th minute. 

However, where City have had trouble putting the ball in the net in previous matches, they had a player in Toure who is willing to—as the fans in the stands often demand—"just shoot" instead of looking for the next pass, as some of the side's creative midfielders can be guilty of.

His intelligence on the ball created the space for his first-half effort, which took a nick on its way past Wayne Hennessey. A swift one-two gave him room to shoot, and it displayed what City have been missing during the spat with the manager.

It was a relief for the Ivorian to be back too, per BBC Sport: "I was delighted to play, and I am very happy to be playing football. My team-mates are very important to me. They have always been brilliant with me, always supportive. I always want to be there to help them. I am professional. I always want to improve my game.”

The sense of community in the City squad was obvious. Following both of Toure’s goals, his team-mates were clearly delighted for him, as they dived on top of him as part of the celebrations.

For Guardiola, it sends a clear message to the rest of the squad—a player with the wrong attitude isn’t going to be part of his team. There are numerous times when the Catalan could have called on the midfielder, but he chose not to. And good to his word, the Ivorian was in contention again when he displayed better behaviour. It lays down a disciplinary marker, but it also shows there's never no way back.

OLLY GREENWOOD/Getty Images

While Toure’s return was the overwhelming positive of the afternoon, there were still some concerns for the manager. City’s performance was likely below what Guardiola would have been hoping for, as they found Crystal Palace’s high work rate difficult to live with in a second-half spell that culminated in the equalising goal.

For the majority of the match, the visitors weren’t under too much threat—though they did struggle creating chances in what was an even contest for some time. Aside from a Sergio Aguero effort that was blocked on the line, Hennessey was left largely untested in the Palace goal but for the two efforts that beat him.

Worse, this was yet another match that Vincent Kompany wasn’t able to finish. A nasty collision with Claudio Bravo—for which no blame can be given to the goalkeeper, as he came to claim a ball over the top midway through the first half—left the captain seeing double.

At least it wasn't another muscle injury.

City’s defensive shortcomings were also on show. Pablo Zabaleta looked heavy-legged as Connor Wickham left him for dead in the buildup to the home side’s goal, though Bravo’s attempted save left a lot to be desired despite the powerful shot. The Argentinian defender was also struggling as Jason Puncheon got to the byline a number of times in the second half.

However, it has to be said the full-back’s movement going forward caused the hosts problems—Puncheon could have been sent off for a cynical trip on Zabaleta as the City man tried to make an off-the-ball run toward the box.

Ultimately, while City’s performance might not have been at the heights of what Guardiola would want from his players, it was enough to take maximum points. That’s something they haven’t been able to do of late, and it’s left fans feeling frustrated. Turning scrappy games to victories without playing particularly well is a cliched hallmark of title-winners for a reason.

It’s a timely victory in that manner. While individual draws aren’t especially poor, making it a habit against teams that other title rivals are likely to beat is only going to put more pressure on the squad further down the line.

The long-term goal for Guardiola is to oversee free-flowing, winning football. In what’s a big transition from City’s recent playing style to something the Premier League has never seen before, it’ll please the Catalan that his side is perhaps starting to show battling qualities that might have been lacking at points this season.

It’s little surprise that Toure’s return was one of the factors in that turnaround. Sure, he’s no longer the player he once was, but anyone writing him off this season—especially after his apology brought him back into contention—has been left with egg on their face.

The whole sorry situation is over. And if this is to be the Ivorian’s final season with City, then he’s not going quietly. Would anyone have expected it to be any different?