There was only one Gallagher celebrating a headline performance at the Etihad this weekend and that was our 21-year-old midfielder Conor, who is enjoying an excellent start to life under Patrick Vieira at Crystal Palace.

The Eagles claimed their first win in six in extraordinary circumstances, condemning the champions to a first home defeat since Chelsea won there in early May. Gallagher was involved throughout, in both the hustle and bustle of the match action as well as the key moments of the game.

It was his eagerness that pinched possession from Aymeric Laporte inside five minutes to set Wilfried Zaha running clear, the forward doing the rest with a low finish steered into the bottom corner for an early lead.

City were below par and things got worse for Pep Guardiola’s men when Laporte was sent off in first-half stoppage time for a last-man foul on Zaha. Despite Gabriel Jesus squeezing in an equaliser on the hour mark, the VAR offside lines saved Palace before Gallagher wrapped up the scoring two minutes from time.

The Surrey-born youngster arrived from nowhere to provide support to a late break, taking a pass from Michael Olise before crashing his finish past Ederson via the inside of the post. It was his fifth Premier League goal involvement of the campaign (three goals, two assists), more than in 30 appearances on loan at West Brom last term.

Ampadu confused

In Serie A, Ethan Ampadu was on the receiving end of a bizarre red card in Venezia’s 2-1 home defeat at the hands of Salernitana. The Welsh international had only entered the fray at half-time and soon stretched to reach a ball that risked slipping away from his control, though the tackle appeared clean and barely worthy of a foul.

Yet the Italian officials, renowned this season for being harsher than their counterparts elsewhere in Europe, deemed it worthy of a red, reducing the Lagunari to 10 men for the final quarter of the game. Their frustration was compounded further at the concession of a stoppage-time winner.

It meant the versatile defender was suspended for Venezia’s 0-0 draw this weekend with Genoa, a result that leaves them two positions and one point above the drop zone.

Elsewhere in Italy, Tiemoue Bakayoko came on for the final 25 minutes as AC Milan beat Torino 1-0 in midweek courtesy of a close-range finish from former Blues striker Olivier Giroud. The midfielder then entered for the final 15 minutes to help Milan see out a 2-1 win in the Eternal City against Jose Mourinho’s Roma courtesy of a brace from Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The Rossoneri continue to keep pace with Napoli at the top of Serie A, the two now seven clear of third-placed Inter.

Emerson settles and Ballo assists

Emerson Palmieri and Lyon closed the gap on the top four in Ligue 1 with an important win against high-flying Lens. The Italian defender featured throughout for Les Gones as they steadied their faltering start to the season courtesy of goals from Karl Toko Ekambi and Houssem Aouar.

Slightly further afield, Michy Batshuayi started for Besiktas in a big 2-1 victory over Galatasaray in the Turkish Super Lig at the start of the week. A brace from his strike partner Cyle Larin did the damage in Istanbul, though the Black Eagles were unable to capitalise on that later in the week as they fell to a defeat at title-chasing Hatayspor. Batshuayi was forced off early in that, lasting just 24 minutes.

Tino Anjorin returned to the side for a pair of victories for Lokomotiv Moscow in the Russian Premier League, firstly from the bench in a 2-1 victory over Sochi before he started another win by the same scoreline against Nizhny Novgorod. Lokomotiv still trail league leaders Zenit St Peterburg by five points.

In Austria, Thierno Ballo claimed an assist for Rapid Vienna in a 3-0 cup win at Amstetten in midweek, before coming off the bench for the final 18 minutes in a 3-2 league victory against LASK.

Also in cup action but with less success was Kenedy, whose Flamengo side were knocked out of the Copa do Brasil at the semi-final stage after a 3-0 second-leg defeat at the hands of Athletico Paranaense. The winger played the latter stages of that loss but was unused in the winning return to league action this weekend.

In the Slovenian second tier, Karlo Ziger kept goal for Rudar Velenje in a 2-1 home defeat to Ilirija.

Championship contenders

Three of our players on loan in the Championship currently occupy positions in the play-off places as the second tier campaign nears a third of the way through.

Jake Clarke-Salter and Ian Maatsen are up to fourth with Coventry City following a comfortable win away at Hull City. The defensive duo played the full game in Yorkshire and were rarely troubled by the Tigers as they claimed a first victory in four by a 1-0 scoreline.

Meanwhile, Levi Colwill and Huddersfield Town are a place and three points further back after a 1-0 win of their own against Millwall. Colwill returned to the left side of their three-man defence after missing last weekend’s defeat at Bournemouth. The 18-year-old has helped the Terriers keep seven clean sheets in his 12 appearances to date this season.

Danny Drinkwater and Baba Rahman both retained their spots in the Reading starting line-up but were unable to prevent the Royals going down 2-0 to league leaders Bournemouth.

In League One, Jamie Cumming’s smooth transition up a league continued as he kept Accrington Stanley at bay for a Gillingham side just about keeping their heads above water in the third tier.

The Gills are a place behind AFC Wimbledon, for whom Henry Lawrence started twice this week. His midweek run-out came in central midfield in the EFL Trophy, where the Dons were beaten 2-0 by Crystal Palace’s Under-21s. He was then at left-back for a 1-0 loss at Cambridge United in the league.