City keep pace with Chelsea as Warnock lashes officials

On November 29, Chelsea stood on 33 points and City 24 in what seemed a moment when the west London club might gallop off into the distance with this season's crown, albeit that they had played a game more. Instead, as predicted by Manuel Pellegrini in that Cool-Hand Luke managerial style of his, City have reeled in Chelsea, though tomorrow evening's visit to Stoke City is a game in hand that could re-establish a three-point margin.

As with their campaign thus far, this was a contest the champions grew into and by the close, when James Milner raced upfield to set up Yaya Toure for his fifth strike in eight games - the finish pinballing off the right post - City had a third and were coasting.

Before this James McArthur appeared to have a goal wrongly disallowed for offside, which if it had stood could have given City a nervy final few minutes. This left Neil Warnock furious and it is understood that after the game he asked for permission to talk to Phil Dowd, the referee inviting him into his office to discuss the decision.

"It is two yards onside. It is a disgraceful decision," the Crystal Palace manager said. "It is hard enough to score at the Etihad without goals being chalked off without a reason. I wish I was still working in the media so I could say what I want without getting fined. They have to get decisions like that right. My players deserve that."

With no Sergio Aguero, Edin Dzeko or Stevan Jovetic, Pellegrini decided to fill the frontline striker void with Milner. Would he be a false No 9 or would the City No 7 be a traditional centre-forward? The answer seemed to be the latter, though as with all modern attacking players Milner drifted in and out of midfield pockets.

Afterwards, Pellegrini indicated as much. "Milner made a very good performance, a sacrifice performance but he moves a lot to create the space for the midfielders. David [Silva] also arrives very well in the box, as did Yaya, that is the way we were working during the week to try to create the space for them to arrive in the second line.

"We have been preparing this match all week and we plan all this movement for Milner to create the freedom for all the colleagues."

The contest had a scrappy opening during which Palace saw as much of the ball as City. Yannick Bolasie was among the brighter visitors, the DR Congo forward's pace along the left troubling the champions.

City's class offers the impression that against an opponent of Palace's ilk they can create chances at will. In Samir Nasri, the hero of the 2-0 Champions League triumph at Roma, Pellegrini has a player who has recently stepped up his game, adding a muscular presence to his dainty skills. Toure is another City man whose form is hitting a majestic vein.

The stereotypical Warnock side hit long balls into the area and hope to profit from a knockdown and, though Bolasie's on-the-deck trickery belied this at times, a few hail marys were aimed at Hart's goal.

The instruction must have gone out from Pellegrini that the tempo should be heightened and that his team needed to be more ruthless in the second half.

Nasri, Aleksandar Kolarov and Silva made pretty shapes near the left corner flag and the Frenchman went on a run that took him to the opposing flank before the move fizzled out.

Then, finally, the match had a goal. It derived from the slow-slow-quick-quick stuff that has made City so successful. Toure pea-rolled the ball to Fernandinho who, after a glance ahead, zipped the ball in to Pablo Zabaleta and when the Argentinian reversed it to Silva he scored, via a deflection off Scott Dann.

The Spanish schemer's third league goal this season was jubilantly received by Pellegrini and City fans. Now their side were level on points with Chelsea, and there was a platform on which to try to reduce or even catch their goal difference, still superior by three.

Silva's first arrived on 49 minutes. His second came just past the hour. This was a throwback of a move that involved a simple yet destructive Kolarov cross to Silva, whose instant shot allowed Julian Speroni little chance. Now it is over to the Britannia Stadium to see if Chelsea can beat Stoke and create some daylight at the top again.

James McArthur's header for Palace would have made it 2-1, but was wrongly flagged offside. "It's a disgraceful decision, it's not even close," said Neil Warnock. "I wish I could say what I want, but I'd be fined."