Israeli Anan Halaily Shines in Crystal Palace Debut Despite Heavy Defeat to Manchester City

Anan Halaily made his first Premier League start for Crystal Palace on August 28, 2026, in a 4-1 loss to Manchester City during the second round of the season. Despite the team's heavy defeat, Halaily stood out with an impressive personal performance, particularly on defense. He completed 10 tackles in his debut, becoming the first player since N'Golo Kanté in 2015 to reach double-digit tackles in a Premier League debut start. This also marks the highest number of tackles in any Premier League match this season so far, across 11 games.

Major sports websites and analysts unanimously rated Halaily as Crystal Palace's best player in the match. Flashscore awarded him a 7.2 rating, the highest among the 16 Palace players who appeared, despite a yellow card that lowered his score. Fotmob gave him an even higher rating of 7.7, while WhoScored rated him 7.38, well above the next highest Palace player, Daichi Kamada, who scored 6.74.

English commentators noted that Halaily attempted to contribute offensively on the right side but was primarily focused on defending his markers. They praised his tremendous effort and high energy, though they observed that his final actions lacked precision. Overall, Halaily's debut showcased his defensive capabilities and potential impact for Crystal Palace moving forward.