Crystal Palace suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium, eventually losing 3-0. Oliver Glasner made several changes to the starting XI and Palace paid the price against a City side that also had several changes.
Crystal Palace succumbed to a heavy defeat at the hands of Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium, falling 3-0.
Having guaranteed their place in the Premier League for next season with the 2-2 draw with Everton, Palace entered the final three matches of the season with nothing to play for.
And that was reflected in the team selected by Oliver Glasner, with several changes made to the side, not least star man Ismaila Sarr benched, with Brennan Johnson coming into the starting XI.
The midfield also changed, with neither Adam Wharton or Daichi Kamada involved from the off.
Palace did well in the first half an hour as much as City looked flat.
There was no Erling Haaland, no Jeremy Doku and no Rayan Cherki for City, as they cast one eye towards the FA Cup final on Saturday.
It was clear to see by their slow build-up play and lack of incision that this was a team lacking some of their most important players.
Palace actually came closest to scoring in that time, with Jean-Philippe Mateta wheeling away in celebration after he thought the ball had crossed the line, only for the referee to blow for offside towards Johnson in the build-up and an upset looked like it could be on the cards.
But City still had quality and eventually, it shone through.
Phil Foden backheeled a pass wonderfully into the path of Antoine Semenyo, who slotted the ball into the bottom left corner with aplomb first time.
That seemed to spark City into life and it was not long before they doubled their lead.
Foden was again the provider, with a flick off his boot that only he will know if it was deliberate or not, after a lovely curved ball from Josko Gvardiol.
Omar Marmoush, deputising for Haaland made no mistake with the finish and City suddenly led 2-0 at the break.
Palace did offer more in the second half, not least when they brought on Wharton and Sarr on the hour mark.
Glasner wants to keep as many players fresh as possible for the Conference League final on May 27 and he appears to be doing a good job of that.
Jorgen Strand Larsen and Sarr both had good chances but neither could test Gianluigi Donarumma and City then brought on their trump card in Rayan Cherki.
The dazzling frenchman showed a little bit of what Palace have been missing since Michael Olise and Eberechi Eze have been missing, with a phenomenal piece of dribbling to assist Savinho for the third goal.