MANCHESTER: Kevin De Bruyne inspired a Manchester City fightback from two goals down to beat Crystal Palace 5-2, while Nottingham Forest’s challenge for a place in next season’s Champions League stumbled after a 1-0 defeat by Everton on Saturday.
In De Bruyne’s first appearance at the Etihad Stadium since announcing his decade in Manchester will come to an end at the end of the season, the Belgian rolled back the years to save City’s blushes.
Unbeaten in seven games, Palace made the trip north full of confidence and found themselves 2-0 up after 20 minutes.
Eberechi Eze slotted home Ismaila Sarr’s pass before Chris Richards took advantage of poor City defending to head in from a corner.
Eze had a third goal narrowly ruled out for offside before De Bruyne stirred the City fightback.
The 33-year-old fired in a free-kick off the post before heading down for Omar Marmoush to level just three minutes later.
City were rampant after the break as De Bruyne teed up Mateo Kovacic on 47 minutes to complete the comeback.
Goalkeeper Ederson provided his fourth Premier League assist of the season for James McAtee to make it 4-2 before Nico O’Reilly’s sweet strike rounded off the scoring.
Victory lifts Pep Guardiola’s men back into the top four, with the top five in the Premier League this season qualifying for the Champions League thanks to the strong performance of English sides in European competition.
Forest remain in third and on course for their first taste of Europe’s elite competition since they were holders in 1980.
However, Nuno Espirito Santo’s men have lost their last two games to allow the chasing pack back onto their tails.
A forgetful game at the City Ground appeared to be meandering toward a stalemate until Abdoulaye Doucoure struck in the 94th minute to secure Everton’s first win in seven games.
Aston Villa’s Champions League run this season may have just days left in it as they trail Paris Saint-Germain 3-1 after the first leg of their quarter-final in the French capital.
Unai Emery’s men are making a charge to get back into the competition next season after maintaining their winning Premier League run with a 3-0 victory at already-relegated Southampton despite Marco Asensio having two penalties saved by Aaron Ramsdale.
Ollie Watkins was again left on the bench by Emery but made a stunning impact with a volley over Ramsdale from Youri Tielemans’ dinked pass 17 minutes from time.
Donyell Malen then sealed the points with his third goal in as many league games.
Asensio’s second spot-kick was saved in stoppage time, but John McGinn pounced on the rebound.
Villa climb above Chelsea into fifth, just one point behind City.
Leicester scored their first league goals since January to snap a nine-game losing run, but a 2-2 draw at Brighton still did little to help the Foxes’ hopes of survival.
Twice the Seagulls led through two Joao Pedro penalties.
But Brighton’s ambitions of European football next season were dealt a blow as Stephy Mavididi and Caleb Okoli levelled for Ruud van Nistelrooy’s men.
Arsenal can cut the gap on leaders Liverpool to eight points later when they host Brentford.
Mikel Arteta, though, showed his priority is in finishing the job against Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals as Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard were among those to start on the Gunners’ bench.

A meeting between Formula 1 governing body the FIA and engine manufacturers has ended without a clear commitment to any future return to fan-favorite V10 engines.
Amid concerns over the cost and sound of the current V6 turbo hybrids — there will be a new generation of those from next year — FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem suggested in February that there could be a return to “the roaring sound of the V10.”
The FIA statement on the meeting, held ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix, said “all parties are committed to the 2026 regulations” but they also “agreed to continue discussions on the future technical direction of the sport.”
There was no mention of V10 engines specifically in the FIA account of the meeting, though it said: “Besides the 2026 regulations, a range of options and timelines for the future were discussed. One of the topics under discussion was the adoption of normally aspirated engines with sustainable fuel.”
The FIA added there was an understanding that “a level of electrification will always be part of any future considerations,” which signals a continuing place for hybrid technology. Hybrid engines are more common in modern road cars than the V10.
Audi, which will operate its own team from 2026, is a key supporter of the hybrid rules. The German manufacturer thanked the FIA and Ben Sulayem for arranging the meeting and emphasized its commitment to the 2026 framework.
“Our aim is to help shape a sustainable and future-oriented form of motorsport that leverages cutting-edge technologies — benefiting not only Formula 1 but also Audi’s broader technological development which we see reflected in the 2026 power unit regulations,” Audi said in a statement.
“Audi remains fully committed to entering Formula 1 from 2026 onwards, with power unit technology built around three key pillars: Highly efficient engines, advanced hybrid electrification, and the use of sustainable fuels.”
While some drivers and teams have concern about various aspects of the 2026 rules, some worry that criticism risks making it seem like F1 is talking down its own future.
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said the existing plans might need work but could still yield a “good product.”
“We haven’t even started 2026, and we are already talking about something else,” he said. “I would like to invoke a sense of responsibility by all the stakeholders, because we are here to protect the interests of the sport.”