(Football news) Manchester City suffered a shock 0-0 draw against Crystal Palace as the title race is now wide open. The result means City's lead over second-place Liverpool stands at four points but Jurgen Klopp's men have to play their game in hand against Arsenal on March 16. Liverpool had cut the gap to three points with their victory against Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday which was also their eighth successive league win to remain at City's footsteps as the onus was on the defending champions to respond.

The Premier League leaders dominated possession in the first half, but Palace sat back and  defended really well when needed and left Pep Guardiola's side with nothing to show for it as the first half which ended goalless .Kevin De Bruyne came the closest when he hit the post at the hour mark and then Riyad Mahrez forced a brilliant save on his shot from the subsequent rebound as City maintained the pressure on Palace. They  had another great chance in the 71st minute when Jack Grealish sent the ball right across goal for Bernardo Silva, but he was only able to get a toe on cross and it ultimately skidded past the far post from very close range.

This was a huge achievement from Patrick Vieira side as the last side to stop City from scoring in the Premier League was also Palace in October, and another shutout meant that Crystal Palace again took points from City. Guardiola's men threw everything at Palace late on, but Palace dug deep and held on as they subsequently stretched their unbeaten run to five games in all competitions and stayed 11th in the standings. The people back in Merseyside will have celebrated this result more than anyone else as Man City versus Liverpool on April 10 would mean a potential title decider and ultimately decide who will lift the 2021-22 Premier League trophy.

Guardiola said after the match, "Luck doesn't exist in football. We have to score goals and we didn't do it. We played to score goals and concede a few. We struggled a little bit. The team that was there today, was there before and will be there in the next game. I am very pleased with the performance and the way we played."

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Palace manager Patrick Vieira said, "When you play against City you have to concede chances, It's all about having your luck on the day, but also putting in a shift as a team. We did that today. We fought for luck and we got a point. We're happy with the performance."