Man City thrash Palace after early scare Forest stunned by Everton

Manchester City moved back into the top four with a 5-2 comeback victory over visiting Crystal Palace on the back of Kevin De Bruynes inspired performance while Nottingham Forest failed to consolidate third place after a 1-0 home defeat by Everton.

Aston Villa beat relegated Southampton 3-0 away, while Brighton amp; Hove Albion were held 2-2 at home by Leicester City, who scored a league goal for the first time since January.

The results leave Forest in third on 57 points, two points clear of City and a further point ahead of Villa in fifth. Sixth-placed Chelsea, who have 53, host Ipswich Town on Sunday.

City were 2-0 down inside 21 minutes when Eberechi Eze grabbed the opener after Palace carved open the home sides defence before Chris Richards scored from a set-piece.

But De Bruyne halved the deficit with a free kick before his cushioned header found its way to Omar Marmoush, who blasted the ball into the net after Ilkay Gundogan missed.

City dominated the second half and De Bruyne assisted Mateo Kovacic for the third goal 80 seconds after the restart.

Goalkeeper Ederson then claimed his fourth assist of the season when he set James McAtee on his way with a long ball while Nico OReilly completed the rout.

I want to go away with a Champions League (spot) for this team because they deserve it, said Belgian De Bruyne, who is leaving the club at the end of the season.

Weve been in the Champions League for the nine, ten years that Ive been here so I hope we can do that for the team next year.

Forest struggled to get going against Everton, who stunned the fans at The City Ground when Abdoulaye Doucoure scored the only goal in added time.

Forest had a corner