Rayan Cherki did his best Lionel Messi impression, producing moments of pure magic as Enzo Maresca’s Manchester City stayed perfect with a 4-1 win over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.
First, the Frenchman, sporting the same No 10 as the diminutive Argentine legend, weaved through the Crystal Palace defence before poking past a rooted Dean Henderson to double City’s lead after Erling Haaland had opened his account with his first of the season and of the game in the opening 45 minutes.
Despite an exciting start in Pierre Sage’s first game at Selhurst Park, Haaland towered above Chris Richards to head in the opening goal.
As the applause for Cherki’s opener began to fade, Yeremy Pino added to the display of individualism, beating a wall from 25 yards out and curling a free-kick that struck the bar. The ball rebounded off Gianluigi Donnarumma and therefore went down as an own goal for the Italian shotstopper.
Five minutes after his super solo effort, Cherki decided to take the sting out of Palace’s newly found momentum, instantly responding to their goal with an audacious strike that deflected past Henderson.
Though Palace came close throughout, with their finest chance falling to Tyrick Mitchell, who fluffed his lines with a close-range header, Haaland’s second, a rasping finish past Henderson late on, ended the contest. Palace stay in search of a first win under new boss Sage.
Maresca’s City, meanwhile. make it two from two, producing a dominant scoreline much more akin to what his predecessor would regularly provide.
