With only two games left to play after their assignment against the South Londoners, there really was no margin for error.
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Four changes for Palace
For the Eagles, there was little to play for other than pride, with their focus squarely on the Conference League final towards the end of the month.
That may explain why Oliver Glasner made four changes to his starting lineup, as his side attempted to beat the Cityzens for the first time in the English top flight since October 2021.
Since then, Pep Guardiola's side had been unbeaten in eight Premier League matches and had plundered 21 goals against Palace.
The visitors had scored twice on their last four trips to the Etihad Stadium, so it wasn't a foregone conclusion that this was a match there for the taking by City.
Brilliant performance from Guehi
That said, aside from a scare right at the start of the game when Jean-Philippe Mateta's effort crossed the line but was ruled out for offside earlier in the move, the way in which the hosts began the game certainly served notice on Palace that they'd need to fight tooth and nail to get even so much as a point from the game.
With 20 minutes played, City had already had six efforts at goal, including two from ex-Eagles captain Marc Guehi.
The centre-back certainly put on a show against his old employers, contesting 11 one-on-one duels over the course of the game, and five aerial duels, winning the majority in both cases.
He was also the only City defender to make a tackle in the game, which he won successfully, and his two clearances were as many as any of his teammates.
142 touches were the most of any player in the match, as were his 131 total passes, 124 of which found their target for a 94.7% success rate. Palace's Maxence Lacroix may have posted a 95% stat, but with just 38 passes completed, there's no comparison there.
Sumptuous Foden assist
It was only a matter of time before City took the lead, and the only real surprise was that 31 minutes had elapsed before Antoine Semenyo found the net from Phil Foden's sumptuous back heel assist.
Just eight minutes later, Foden was at it again, supplying the assist for Omar Marmoush to put daylight between the two teams.
In so doing, the Englishman had brought up a century of goal contributions in the Premier League, and he almost had a hat-trick of assists in the first half as his chipped ball was powered goalwards by Josko Gvardiol.
Only the acrobatic reflexes of Dean Henderson saw the custodian palm the ball one-handed around the post.
Backs-against-the-wall from Palace
It would be the only save Henderson would make in the match, due in no small part to the industry of his defenders.
Jaydee Canvot, Chris Richards and Lacroix made 24 clearances between them, and along with Tyrick Mitchell, 15 tackles undertaken denoted what a real backs-against-the-wall performance this was at times from the Palace rearguard.
Ismaila Sarr's on-target effort just three minutes after coming on for Palace in the second half was the visitors' second and last time they'd trouble Gianluigi Donnarumma, as City continued to pour forward at every opportunity.
Semenyo arguably should've done much better on the night, with his nine touches in Palace's box only producing that one shot on target from which he scored.
Savinho on target
To put into perspective just how on top City were during the match, Abdukodir Khusanov and Bernardo Silva joined Guehi with over a century of touches. Just those three players alone had 97 fewer touches than the entire Palace team - including their substitutes.
Though it would take until the 83rd minute for the hosts to grab a third goal, there was never any doubt it would arrive at some point.
Savinho gleefully celebrated his strike, and well he might after a performance that saw him attempt 12 dribbles on the night, as well as 15 total one-on-one duels - more than any other player.
Rayan Cherki's assist was his 12th of the campaign, putting him one clear of all of his City teammates in this regard for 2025/26.
Man City march on
Palace's fifth game in a row without a win was disappointing to say the least.
When you consider the calibre of player that the Eagles had in situ, regardless of the changes Glasner made, to not complete any dribbles successfully is poor enough.
To have only 27% of collective possession across the 90+ minutes, and manage only two efforts on target, is a damning indictment of the ambition of a squad hoping to win their first ever European trophy in a couple of weeks' time.
City, nevertheless, march on, and will hope that Arsenal slip up against either Burnley or Palace in their last two games, in order for them to win another Premier League title in the season's last round.
