Manuel Pellegrini was happy to see Manchester City move joint top of the table, but Neil Warnock was in a much darker mood following Crystal Palace's 3-0 defeat at the Etihad Stadium.

City moved level on points with Barclays Premier League leaders Chelsea thanks to a brace from David Silva and Yaya Toure's fourth goal in six matches.

But Warnock thought his team could have taken something from the game had they not wrongly had a goal chalked off while the hosts were 2-0 up.

James McArthur's effort was disallowed halfway through the second period even though he was played onside by City midfielder Fernandinho.

"It was a disgraceful decision," the Palace boss said.

"The linesman was in a terrible position.

"I don't understand why top-class officials get it wrong like that.

"There is no explanation for it. The linesman will be disappointed when he sees (a replay) but that's no consolation to me. It was a game-changing decision.

"You could tell the crowd were nervous. It could have been 2-1 with 20 minutes go but it's a canter for them all because of that.

"You have to do your job right if you are at the top level if you are a linesman.

"It's not hard to look over and see. It's not even close, it's miles onside.

"I think we could have come away with something. That's why I am bitterly disappointed because we worked so hard all week and it's nothing to do with us why that goal gets chalked off. We could have put them under the cosh for 20 minutes.

"I wish I was still working in the media so I could say what I want without getting fined."

City had eight attempts in the first half, but Palace goalkeeper Julian Speroni did not have a save to make because of City's wayward finishing.

The hosts improved after the break though and Silva put them ahead with a deflected shot that looped over Speroni.

The Spaniard converted Aleksandar Kolarov's square pass to double City's lead before Toure sealed the win with nine minutes to go.

"I was always confident (we would win)," Pellegrini said.

"We had the patience to try to create the space. We did not allow them to have not one counter attack.

"I was absolutely sure we were going to score and in the end we scored three goals against a difficult team that defended very well."

Pellegrini and his players came in for criticism at the start of the season for being unable to keep pace with Chelsea, but after a run of six straight league wins City are now equal on points with the Blues, who play Stoke on Monday.

Pellegrini has been happy to see Toure return to form, but also pointed others out for praise following the win.

"Yaya was very criticzsed at the beginning of the season but it was not only Yaya (who) was not putting in his best performance," the Chilean said.

"I said then, when our midfielders like Yaya, Fernandinho, (Samir) Nasri and Silva return to their normal performance, the team will play again the way we normally do.

"I think that all of them this moment are in a very good moment, especially Fernandinho, Yaya and Nasri. They are playing regular and David is returning from a long injury with his knee the way he knows how to play."

Pellegrini was sure City would recover from their poor start to the campaign.

"We are in a good moment," said Pellegrini, who had to play James Milner up front because Sergio Aguero, Stevan Jovetic and Edin Dzeko were injured.

"Maybe nobody believed one or two months ago we can continue in Champions League and be involved in the fight for the title but we always trust in what we do and the way we work every day and that is why I am so happy the squad demonstrates why we won the title last year.

"You do not win the title in December but it is a key month.

"If you want to be involved and have a chance to win the title, you must be as near as you can be to the lead of the table."

When asked whether any of his strikers would be fit for City's game at West Brom on Boxing Day, Pellegrini said: "I don't think so."

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