Rayan Cherki scored two goals in five minutes and Erling Haaland also got a brace as Manchester City won at Crystal Palace 4-1 to maintain its perfect start to the Premier League on Friday. Haaland, the league top goal-scorer last season, opened his account after 17 minutes with a neat header. Cherki doubled the visitor’s lead early in the second half when he danced through a nest of players and poked the ball home from close range.
However, Palace reduced the deficit almost immediately when Yeremy Pino's superb free kick hit the bar and then rebounded into the net off the despairing back of goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. Cherki, though, was in fine form and restored City's two-goal advantage two minutes later when his deflected shot from just outside the box wrong-footed keeper Dean Henderson. It was the first brace of his Premier League career but he was not happy and called his performance "so-so." The French midfielder said he thought he was about to be subbed so turned on the style to ensure his permanence.
"When I see Enzo Maresca wanted to change me I didn't like that, so I had to show him I wanted to play and wanted to score," Cherki said of the recently appointed coach. "With Pep Guardiola we had a big history," he added. "Now we have started another story.
We have to prove that every week, and we are here for that." Haaland rounded off the scoring with a left-footed strike six minutes from time and City was on top of the league with six points from its first two games. Palace is pointless after two games and midfielder Adam Wharton suggested the team needed more time to adapt to new coach Pierre Sage, who took over in June. "I thought we had good moments but we didn't test their keeper enough, like we should have," Wharton said.
"It is a disappointing result. "We are trying to work every day and implement the gaffer's way of playing in and out of possession. I think we improved from last week and were in the game for longer.
We need to keep at it and next week hopefully we'll be even better." Reporting by The Associated Press.
