Rayan Cherki Shines as Manchester City Defeats Crystal Palace 4-1

Rayan Cherki needed five minutes to rip the game away from Crystal Palace. Erling Haaland made sure it stayed that way.

Manchester City’s new-look attack tore through Palace in a 4-1 win in London on Friday, a result that keeps the champions perfect after two Premier League matches and already looking ominously sharp.

Haaland, last season’s top scorer, wasted no time getting started again. After 17 minutes he drifted into space, met a cross and guided a precise header home to open his account for the campaign. One chance, one goal. The familiar ruthlessness was back.

City controlled the tempo, but the real damage came after the break.

Cherki, who had been drifting between the lines, suddenly caught fire. Early in the second half he slalomed through a crowd of defenders, weaving past challenges before stabbing the ball in from close range. Palace were carved open, and City were cruising.

Selhurst Park briefly roared back to life. Almost straight from the restart, Yeremy Pino stepped up over a free kick and whipped a stunning effort against the crossbar. The ball crashed down, hit the back of the diving Gianluigi Donnarumma and bounced over the line. Brutal on the goalkeeper, a lifeline for Palace.

Any hope of a comeback barely had time to form.

Two minutes later, Cherki struck again. Picking the ball up just outside the box, he let fly. His shot took a deflection, wrong-footed Dean Henderson and nestled into the net. A touch of fortune, but it capped a spell of dominance and sealed the first Premier League brace of Cherki’s career.

City never looked like letting go from there. They moved the ball, slowed the game, then struck one last time.

With six minutes left, Haaland added his second of the night, lashing in a left-footed finish to round off the scoring and underline the gulf between the sides.