LONDON — They have a new manager and a famous fresh haircut, but when they click, Manchester City remain the same irresistible force — as Crystal Palace found out Friday.
Rayan Cherki produced his second match-winning contribution in a week with a wonderful double at Selhurst Park, while Erling Haaland showed that even with a new trim, he’s just as lethal, as he grabbed a brace and Enzo Maresca’s side made it two wins from two matches with a 4-1 victory at Palace.
This will be remembered for Cherki’s energetic double. His first goal, with City 1-0 up, saw him dart through at least three attempted Palace tackles and nonchalantly flick the ball past Dean Henderson. Palace struck back through a brilliant free kick from Yéremy Pino which hit the bar, rebounded off goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma and went in. But Cherki took the game by the scruff of the neck, drove at Palace’s defense and flung in a long-range effort that glanced off center back Chris Richards to make it 3-1.
The Frenchman was on the bench for City’s opener Saturday. He wasn’t happy with Maresca’s call. He’s not one to hide emotions — Maresca said as much — and against Bournemouth last weekend, when he got his chance in the 63rd minute with City 1-0 down, he changed the match. He promptly flung a corner onto Marc Guéhi’s head in the 84th minute and then found Josko Gvardiol for the injury-time winner.
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At times last season, former manager Pep Guardiola looked exasperated with Cherki. He’s volatile, but also captivating and frustrating, all wrapped up in a talented bundle of brilliance. In the first half against Palace he threatened to spring into life, but was also City’s pacemaker: Frequently he would put his foot on the ball and calm things down, just when it looked to be getting too frantic — and then he rugby-tackled Palace’s Adam Wharton and picked up a yellow card.
“My performance was so-so,” Cherki told Sky Sports postmatch. “In the first half, we didn’t find the space, I played bad. I needed to show them I want to play, I want to score. Next time I want to give the ball around more.”
But he raised his level in the second half. Haaland scored City’s first, and then it was Cherki’s moment.
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The message was sent: In this post-Guardiola era, Cherki wants to be one of City’s main protagonists. The boos that greeted his substitution in the 81st minute and various insults hurled his way from the Palace fans should be treated as the ultimate compliment.
“Pep [Guardiola] was a big story; we will start another story. We want to prove it and are here for that,” Cherki said.
But anyone at City will always live in Haaland’s shadow. When Haaland pondered chopping off his famous long blond locks, Zlatan Ibrahimovic warned him against the haircut. He told Haaland the power and strength of a player lie in their hair.
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Well, Haaland is different. And Ibrahimovic was wrong. Haaland, complete with a buzz cut, was yet again the scourge of Crystal Palace. His brace makes it 10 goals in six matches for him against the Eagles. His first was a wonderfully contorted effort as he turned and twisted to plant Antoine Semenyo‘s cross back across Henderson. His second and City’s fourth was ruthless as Phil Foden teed him up for an emphatic finish.
Palace did their best to bloody City’s nose, but they lacked the same level of punch and prowess. They started well and looked dangerous early on with Wharton dictating play.
Palace were outplayed against Everton in their opener under new manager Pierre Sage, but he’s managing yet another tricky end to the transfer window. The Eagles head into the final four days complete with plenty of unknowns over a clutch of their best players. Jean-Philippe Mateta and Ismaïla Sarr were both officially absent through injury, while Daniel Muñoz was on the bench amid interest from Nottingham Forest. All the while, Sage must feel like a teacher on a field trip, counting his group on and off the coach, checking they’ve got the right number and haven’t unwittingly left someone behind.
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Despite the one-sided scoreline, this was not a complete performance from City. Maresca will look to the passages of the match when they let Palace control matters and were played through. For the second game running, Maresca fielded a makeshift option in the middle of the pitch alongside Elliot Anderson. Last weekend, it was Guéhi partnering their new £115 million man. On this drizzly Friday evening in southeast London it was Nico O’Reilly who started. While we witnessed new £85 million signing Ayyoub Bouaddi‘s debut with 10 minutes remaining, Maresca’s midfield shuffle was a reminder of one potential transfer that hangs over the last four days of this transfer window — Enzo Fernández’s name will have been heard with regular occurrence among the traveling City fans.
There are other more immediate challenges, such as getting Foden back to his best. He could do with a goal, any goal. Foden had a couple of first-half chances to get his season off and running, but neither found the target. You felt the weight of those missed chances hung on his shoulders.
But Maresca keeping him on the pitch through to the end was a reiteration of faith in Foden. We’ve already seen elsewhere the benefit of what a summer off has done for Chelsea‘s Cole Palmer, and with Foden similarly smarting from missing out on the World Cup, you feel he’s tantalizingly close to going on a similar run of game-changing performances.
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The final few days of the transfer window will be frantic for both Palace and City. Palace will, as always, seek to keep envious clubs away from their best players, while Sage waits to see what he has to work with. It’s far from easy, but somehow, Palace always make it work.
The change at City over the past three months has been dramatic, but through it all, they remain a threat to win the Premier League. City have already seen a host of players leave this summer, with much of their recruitment over the past 18 months unpicked. So many of those players were meant to usher in the post-Kevin De Bruyne, Rodri and Guardiola era at the Etihad. But this is now Maresca’s team. Haaland remains the star act under fresh management, but he still has another group of key protagonists alongside him. Semenyo’s spot is already secure, but this was a statement performance from Cherki.
