Crystal Palace 0-2 Manchester City: Match Statistics
Sergio Aguero has scored a goal to win the Premier League title before. He may just have done it again.
His famous 93rd-minute winner on the final day of the 2012 season saw Manchester City crowned champions for the first time in 44 years.
Aguero's opener against Crystal Palace wasn’t anywhere near as dramatic as that unforgettable effort against QPR, and the runaway leaders still need Liverpool to win at Manchester United on Sunday to clinch the title, but his stunning strike was, at the very least, a spectacular reminder of his class.
He took a sublime touch to control Benjamin Mendy’s pass before then smashing the ball into the roof of the net to break the deadlock at Selhurst Park in sensational fashion.
The Argentine's 258th City goal – more than anyone also in the club's history – would serve as a fitting finale to a glorious, trophy-laden decade at the Etihad Stadium that is entering its final month.
Aguero, though, will be hoping to make an even bigger contribution, in an even more important game, in the closing weeks of the campaign.
Shorn of his services for such a long time, Pep Guardiola has been forced to adapt, to move on without Aguero, developing the striker-less system which has propelled them to the top of the league and the cusp of a Champions League final.
However, Aguero showed once again the value of an out-and-out goalscorer with a thumping finish.
City were struggling to create clear-cut chances against a Crystal Palace side that was happy to retreat to the edge of their own box and try to stifle any creativity.
With one emphatic swing of the boot, though, Aguero found the breakthrough and there would be no way back for the home side.
Indeed, that was confirmed 84 seconds later when Ferran Torres side footed in a second to kill off the game.
Guardiola had made eight changes for the game at Palace, leaving his main attacking threats Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden, Riyad Mahrez and Ilkay Gundogan on the bench.
Like so many of his fellow starters in London, Aguero was desperate to put his hand up for selection for the Champions League second-leg showdown with Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday night.
He remains highly unlikely to start against the French champions, as City aim to maintain their 2-1 advantage from the first leg at the Parc des Princes, but at least Guardiola now knows – if he didn't already – that if he needs a goal from the bench, Aguero remains one of world's deadliest finishers.
Unfortunately for Raheem Sterling, he was unable to make quite the same impact, despite his best efforts.
The England winger has been sidelined in recent months after a loss of form and was visibly desperate to get on the scoresheet.
However, Sterling missed a few decent opportunities, even if he was unlucky with one effort that hit the foot of the post.
Gabriel Jesus too failed to impress, straying offside when a big chance came his way.
Aguero, though, was characteristically calm, cool and collected when his big moment arrived.
It may not be his last ever goal for City, but if it is, it was a wonderful parting gift, a final illustration of why he will go down in history as a club legend.
