Manchester City v Crystal Palace

Palace's first Football League season brought them face to face with an established City side, FA Cup winners since 1904.

Crystal Palace entered the Football League in 1920 as founding members of the new Third Division. Their first competitive encounter with Manchester City came during the 1920-21 season. City were an established First Division side by this point, having won the FA Cup in 1904 and the league title in 1937. Palace, by contrast, were still finding their feet in professional football.

Palace's first taste of the top flight landed them squarely in the path of City's finest side in a generation.

Under manager Bert Head, Crystal Palace won promotion to the First Division in 1969 for the first time in their history. This brought regular league meetings with Manchester City, who were enjoying their own golden period under Joe Mercer and Malcolm Allison, having won the league title in 1968 and the FA Cup in 1969. The two sides now faced each other twice a season in the top flight.

Palace were FA Cup finalists while City couldn't even settle on a division.

The late 1980s and early 1990s were a period of flux for both sides. Crystal Palace, under Steve Coppell, reached the 1990 FA Cup Final against Manchester United, establishing themselves as a credible top-flight outfit. Manchester City, meanwhile, were bouncing between divisions. The two clubs met in various tiers of English football during this period, with neither able to claim sustained dominance over the other.

A Commonwealth Games venue repurposed for football, seating more than 47,000; a rather different postcode from Maine Road.

Manchester City relocated from Maine Road to the City of Manchester Stadium, built for the 2002 Commonwealth Games and converted for football use. The new ground, later renamed the Etihad Stadium, would become the stage for some memorable encounters between these two sides. With a capacity of over 47,000 at the time, it represented a significant step up from the ageing Maine Road.

A Wembley play-off victory over Watford earned Palace their place back among the elite; City, bankrolled since 2008, were a very different proposition.

Crystal Palace won promotion back to the Premier League via the Championship play-offs in May 2013, beating Watford 1-0 at Wembley. This brought them back into regular contact with a Manchester City side that had been transformed by the 2008 Abu Dhabi takeover and had won the Premier League title in dramatic fashion in 2012. The gulf in resources between the two clubs was now vast, but Palace would prove they were no pushovers.

Palace travelled to the Etihad under Pardew and left with three points, a dented title race, and a point well made.

In April 2015, Crystal Palace produced a memorable 2-1 win at the Etihad Stadium. Glenn Murray and Jason Puncheon scored for Palace under new manager Alan Pardew, who had taken charge in January and overseen a remarkable upturn in form. The result dented City's title hopes and underlined Palace's growing confidence as a Premier League side. It was a statement win that signalled Palace could compete with the league's elite on their own turf.

Townsend's voted Goal of the Season silenced the champions on their own turf; Palace, as ever, City's most unwelcome guests.

On 22 December 2018, Crystal Palace shocked the champions with a 3-2 victory at the Etihad. Andros Townsend's stunning long-range volley, later voted the BBC Goal of the Season, was the highlight of a performance that rocked Pep Guardiola's side during their title defence. The defeat was City's second in four league matches and opened the door for Liverpool in the title race. Palace had once again proven themselves City's most awkward visitors.

Three trophies in a single season; the Etihad now holds 53,000 witnesses to history.

Manchester City's historic 2022-23 Treble, winning the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League, cemented their status as one of European football's dominant forces. The Etihad Stadium was expanded to over 53,000 seats, making matchday visits an even more impressive occasion. Palace, now firmly established as a Premier League fixture under various managers, continued to provide stern opposition. The fixture remains a test of Palace's resilience against City's relentless quality.