Phil Foden reveals key to Man City clawing their way back into the Premier League title race

Manchester City are relentlessly chipping away at Arsenal’s Premier League lead, with Phil Foden asserting that patience is proving to be their most potent weapon in the title race.

A hard-fought 3-0 victory over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Sunday saw City narrow the gap to just two points behind the Gunners.

Pep Guardiola’s men could find themselves at the summit of the table before Mikel Arteta’s side next play.

City host third-bottom West Ham on Saturday, while Arsenal face a challenging trip to a resurgent Everton later that evening, marking a significant shift from November when the London club held a seven-point advantage.

Sunday’s encounter at Palace, whose manager Oliver Glasner harbours top-four ambitions, initially threatened to derail City’s pursuit.

However, after weathering early pressure, Erling Haaland broke the deadlock with a header just before half-time, before Foden sealed the win with a superb strike in the second half.

"The most important thing is patience," stated the England midfielder, whose exceptional personal season continued in south London.

"I think we maybe tried to attack too quickly. In the second half we did a lot better. (Patience) was the key for getting the result. We had more control and more passes, that is the City way. It was a full team performance."

Haaland secured his second and City’s third goal from the penalty spot late on, after substitute Savinho was fouled by goalkeeper Dean Henderson.

Palace, however, had their own significant chances in the first half, with Yeremy Pino striking Gianluigi Donnarumma’s crossbar, Adam Wharton hitting a post, and Eddie Nketiah forcing a good save from City’s goalkeeper.

"It’s a really difficult game," Foden added. "We know what (Palace) are about. They make it tricky, set up well and have quality players on the break.

“The first half we were just trying to figure them out. Second half we started to hurt them more and in the end we killed the game off."

Further bad news for Palace came as Daichi Kamada was forced off injured in the second half.

Glasner commented: "It looks like his hamstring. When he landed he over-stretched his knee and that means the hamstring got the full stretch because he never had any muscle injury before.

“It was just an incident and he can hardly walk. It looks pretty bad. He will have a scan (on Monday), then we will know more.

“I think we will lose him for a couple of weeks, but it’s a chance for other players to step up."