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Hot shot Touré comes in from the cold to fire Manchester City's title hopes

Yaya Touré has been out in the cold since the balmy days of last summer. He was the visible pariah at Manchester City as new boss Pep Guardiola laid down the law on squad discipline and fitness.

Yaya Touré marked his return to Manchester City colours with two goals against Crystal Palace.
Yaya Touré marked his return to Manchester City colours with two goals against Crystal Palace. Reuters/Hannah McKay
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Guardiola said Touré’s physical condition wasn’t up to scratch and there was further friction after Toure’s agent hit out in the media at Guardiola’s treatment of the former Cote d’Ivoire skipper.

Challegned, Guardioa said Touré would not play until his agent apologised for comments in the media. The agent refused and Touré did not feature for the team.

But come the apologies, cometh the two goal man of the match performance against Crystal Palace on Saturday as City rose to top spot in the English Premier League.

By contrast, Palace are plummeting. Palace manager Alan Pardew admitted his side's fifth consecutive league defeat was worrying.

"The priority for us is getting points on the board,” he said. “We really gifted Man City two goals from mistakes that led to the first goal and the second goal," he said.

"Our set-up at corners wasn't completed and should have been better. The Premier League is unforgiving. We made a couple of errors and got punished for it. From the sidelines it was a game that was very much in the balance. It really could have gone our way.

"Obviously it hasn't and we have to accept that and try and improve. That's all we can do."

Guardiola declared himself more than happy with Touré’s improvement.

"I would say that Yaya's performance is not about my decision. It is about his quality," Guardiola said. "Yaya has trained really well for the last six to eight weeks. His physical condition, his weight is better than ever and I'm so happy for him and especially his family.

"I'm so happy because he's now a real part of the team. He can help us to achieve our targets because we need all our players in order to achieve our targets.
We are very happy he is staying with us and he can play for us like he did against Palace.”
 

Manchester City are level on 27 points with Liverpool. Chelsea can claim pole position in the Premier League on Sunday provided they win at Middlesbrough.
 

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