Manchester City Dominates Crystal Palace 4-1 with Haaland and Cherki Braces

Rayan Cherki hit a ruthless five-minute double and Erling Haaland matched him with a brace of his own as Manchester City crushed Crystal Palace 4-1 in London on Friday to keep their perfect Premier League start intact.

City’s leading man from last season wasted no time getting going again. After 17 minutes, Haaland peeled away and met a cross with a precise header, guiding the ball home to open his account for the new campaign and settle any early nerves.

City controlled the tempo from there, and when the second half began, Cherki took over.

The Frenchman doubled the visitors’ lead with a moment of real flair, slaloming through a crowd of Palace defenders before stabbing in from close range. It felt like the goal that would kill the contest.

Palace, though, found a lifeline almost immediately. Yeremy Pino stood over a free kick and whipped a vicious effort against the crossbar. The ball crashed down, struck the back of a helpless Gianluigi Donnarumma and bounced over the line for 2-1, a cruel concession for the City goalkeeper and a sudden jolt for the league champions.

Any hint of a Palace fightback barely had time to grow.

Two minutes later, Cherki struck again. Picking up the ball just outside the box, he let fly, and a deflection wrong-footed Dean Henderson, restoring City’s two-goal cushion. It was the first Premier League brace of Cherki’s career, and it underlined the damage he can do when he drifts into those central pockets.

From there, City played with authority, moving the ball, squeezing the life out of Palace’s resistance. The home side chased, but the gaps only widened.

Haaland applied the final touch six minutes from time, lashing in a left-footed finish to complete his own brace and cap a dominant away performance.