Glenn Murray put
Crystal Palace ahead with a tap-in from close range before Jason Puncheon fired
in a brilliant free-kick from the edge of the box.
Yaya Toure's fierce
strike pulled a goal back for fourth-placed City but Palace held on to move up
to 11th.
City are nine points
behind Chelsea and also below Arsenal and Manchester United, who they play on Sunday.
And Manuel
Pellegrini's side, who have played a game more than Chelsea, have now lost
their past four away matches.
Having slipped to
fourth after victories for Arsenal and derby rivals United on Saturday, City
were under pressure to come up with a win of their own.
But they were almost
caught cold inside 60 seconds when Martin Kelly picked out Wilfried Zaha with a
low cross, but the winger blasted over.
City, who had not won
in their four previous visits to London, responded well, dominating possession
and pinning Palace back to the edge of their own box.
But they could not
find a way through, with Palace keeper Julian Speroni twice making brilliant
saves to deny David Silva, while Sergio Aguero hit the post from just outside
the box.
And the home side
stunned the champions on 34 minutes when they took the lead.
Joe Ledley flicked the
ball on for Scott Dann, who was denied by Joe Hart only for Murray to turn in
the loose ball for his fifth goal in five games.
It got worse early in
the second half when Fernandinho brought down Murray on the edge of the box
with a rash challenge, and Puncheon curled a precise free-kick past Hart.
Pellegrini was short
of attacking options on the bench, with January signing Wilfried Bony unable to
travel after injuring an ankle in training.
But City continued to
press and felt they should have had a penalty when Fernandinho's low shot
bounced up onto Murray's hand.
The Brazilian was then
denied by a goal-line clearance from James McArthur.
Toure was the man to
make the breakthrough for City, lashing home a loose ball from 15 yards with 12
minutes remaining.
The Ivorian almost
snatched an equaliser with a deflected shot that looked like it was going to
loop over Speroni, but the Argentine scrambled back to punch clear.
Palace held on for
their third victory in succession to continue their improvement under Alan
Pardew.
But City go into
Sunday's derby at Old Trafford having won just 18 points from their past 12
games - eight fewer than their fierce rivals.
Source: http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/32111603
