22.12.2018 18:25 h

Man City will take stock after shock defeat, says Delph

Manchester City captain Fabian Delph said the team would "go back to the drawing board" after their shock 3-2 defeat by Crystal Palace on Saturday saw them lose ground to Liverpool in the title race.

Ilkay Gundogan opened the scoring for the home side at the Etihad but Palace hit back with goals from Jeffrey Schlupp, Andros Townsend and Luka Milivojevic.

Substitute Kevin De Bruyne gave City late hope but it was not enough and they remained four points behind leaders Liverpool after their first home defeat of the season.

"Obviously the result is a setback," said Delph. "We have lost but we are only looking at ourselves game to game.

"We had a few chances which we have put away in the past, but fair play to Crystal Palace -- they were stubborn and organised.

"It's hard to analyse and we will go back to the drawing board and look at it. We started slowly and the ball wasn't zipping about."

Crystal Palace captain Milivojevic said he was "proud of the team".

"It's a very special victory because they were champions last season and we know how difficult it is to play against them," he said.

"But when we score three goals we can say we deserved it."

Speaking about Townsend's stunning strike, he said: "It's one of the best goals I have seen in my career. He scored one amazing goal against Burnley. He has that -- his goal was amazing."