Crystal Palace v Manchester City player ratings: Christian Benteke 5, Wilfried Zaha 4; Fernandinho 9, Sergio Aguero 8

Guardiola's side could be crowned champions on Sunday after easing to victory at Selhurst Park

• 

  PALALCE RATINGS: Vincente Guaita - 6: Spanish goalkeeper would have been expecting a busy afternoon from the first whistle but City didn’t have shot on target in first half. A different story after the break. Was helpless as City stepped up gear and fizzed shots in on his goal. Had no chance. PA

• 

  Joel Ward - 7: Impressive show from right-back, particularly in first half. Some excellent challenges to help keep Sterling quiet and then his run and cross into penalty area resulted in chance for Benteke to open scoring. Vital header denied Rodri free header on goal after 62 minutes. Palace’s best player. AFP

• 

  Cheikhou Kouyate - 6: Helped keep City’s chances in first half down to bare minimum but should have done better closing down Torres for City’s second goal. Vital foot in to take ball off Aguero’s toes with 20 minutes to go. Booked for foul on Sterling with 10 minutes to go. EPA

• 

  Scott Dann - 6: Vital header over his own bar in six-yard box just after half-time to deny City certain goal. Like rest of Palace's team, spent second half chasing shadows. Getty

• 

  Tyrick Mitchell - 7: Important block to deny Sterling after City attacker left two Palace defenders on the ground in first half. Important headed interception to stop City shooting opportunity as visitors took control of second half. AP

• 

  Luka Milivojevic - 5: Produced one Hollywood pass on half-volley to put Zaha away on attack down left in first half. Booked early in second for trademark blatant foul on Torres. Weak shot straight at Ederson as Palace chased game late one. AP

• 

  Jairo Riedewald - 4: Dutch midfielder barely touched ball in opening 45 minutes as City dominated possession. Little improvement after break and was given midfield lesson by Fernandinho. AFP

• 

  Eberechi Eze - 6: Nice bit of skill to find himself room on edge of box five minutes before half-time but pulled shot wide. Whipped ball off toes of Sterling as City man closed in on goal moments later. Reuters

• 

  Andros Townsend - 5: Mixed bag from winger in first half. Great ball into middle to pick out Benteke but teammate wasted early opportunity but was also left apologising to teammates after one sloppy cross. Disappeared as attacking threat after break. AP

• 

  Wilfried Zaha - 4: Really disappointing afternoon for Palace’s key attacking dangerman. Struggled to make any impact, first touch was poor, never looked like scoring and looked generally out of sorts. PA

• 

  Christian Benteke - 5: Completely miss-timed a header that he sent tamely wide after 11 minutes following perfect cross from Townsend. Thumped a long-ranger drive straight into Ederson’s arms soon after, then saw his turn and shot blocked by Brazilian later in half. Brilliant block at other end of pitch to deny Laporte a goal for City, though. PA

• 

  SUBS: Jeffrey Schlupp – (On for Riedewald 59’) 6: Hit one weak shot straight at Ederson from edge of area. Jean-Philippe Mateta – (On for Benteke 57’) 6: Came on after City took hold of game and couldn’t help side turn tide. Getty

• 

  Jordan Ayew – (On for Townsend 83’) N/A. Getty

• 

  MANCHESTER CITY RATINGS: Ederson - 7: Good point-blank save from Benteke just before half-hour mark. One unbelievable pass out from the deck to set City off on attack just after half-time. Getty

• 

  Joao Cancelo - 5: Didn’t enjoy the best of evenings against Real Madrid on Wednesday and struggled again here at times. Sloppy with distribution, giving the ball away too frequently. Should have made it 3-0 when he curled shot over bar after superb City counter-attack. PA

• 

  Aymeric Laporte - 7: Unlikely goalscoring hero in last week’s League Cup final and almost made it 3-0 here but was denied by superb Benteke block. Solid at the heart of City's defence. Getty

• 

  Nathan Ake - 7: Centre-half making only his second appearance of 2021 did OK first half although Benteke’s sloppiness in front of goal made his life easier. Good recovery tackle to stop Zaha pulling a goal back in last 10 minutes. PA

• 

  Benjamin Mendy - 7: Lovely turn to beat Townsend followed by perfect cross into middle for Torres in opening 10 minutes. A powerhouse down the City right. AFP

• 

  Rodri - 7: Spanish midfielder helped City dominate midfield. Nice range of passing and some lovely cross-field balls straight to teammates’ feet. EPA

• 

  Fernandinho - 9: Perfectly judged tackle to take the ball cleanly off Zaha as Palace attacker looked to attack 20 minutes in. Pinpoint ball into middle picked out Jesus who finished well but was flagged offside. Another lovely cross-field pass found Torres in penalty area early in second half. Veteran was magnificent until City gave him a rest with 20 minutes still to go. Reuters

• 

  Ferran Torres - 8: Saw first-time volley deflected wide from corner and showed his defensive qualities with excellent sliding challenge that prevented Zaha getting free down left late in first half. Side-foot finish put City 2-0 up two minutes after Aguero opened the scoring. Perfectly weighted back-heel to tee-up Cancelo chance in second half. EPA

• 

  Raheem Sterling - 7: Must be frustrated after not starting against Real and his mood wouldn’t have improved when he curled an early chance high and wide, then saw poor touch cost him chance to score with Palace defenders scrambling to block. Nearly made it 3-0 when he hit Guaita’s near post after leaving Palace’s defenders in his wake. Curled another shot just wide of post. Ten weeks without a goal now. PA

• 

  Gabriel Jesus - 7: Thought he’d put City in front after 36 minutes but fine volley was ruled out for offside. Like Sterling, could have done with a goal. EPA

• 

  Sergio Aguero - 8: A rare start for the City’s record goalscorer but didn’t have shot on goal until 38th minute when he fired wide when slightly off balance. Absolutely stunning finish into top corner on the half-volley to score his first ever goal at Selhurst Park after 57 minutes. A master finisher. AFP

• 

  SUBS: Oleksandr Zinchenko - (On for Fernandinho 67’) 7: Brought on with City in complete control. Reuters

Manchester City are within touching distance of the Premier League title after Sergio Aguero and Ferran Torres sealed a 2-0 win at Crystal Palace on Saturday.

Pep Guardiola's side sit 13 points clear at the top and will be crowned champions if second-placed Manchester United lose against Liverpool on Sunday.

After a tepid first half in south London, it was fitting that Aguero – the architect of so many big moments in City's recent history – should open the scoring with a typically lethal finish.

Torres killed off Palace two minutes later as City eased to an 11th successive away victory in the Premier League, equalling the English top-flight record.

Even if United do not slip up against Liverpool at Old Trafford, City have four matches left to secure the one win they need to clinch the title, starting with next Saturday's home game against Chelsea.

It is a matter of when and not if City add the Premier League to the League Cup they won against Tottenham in April.

"We can start to think about it and put it in the fridge. The Premier League is already there, it is in our hands. We need one more victory," Guardiola said.

"I'm absolutely delighted with that after the Champions League. We could not play with much rhythm. We struggled a little bit but in the second half we deserved it."

Player ratings from the match can be seen in the picture gallery above. To view the next image, click on the arrows or swipe if on a mobile device.