Rayan Cherki scored two second-half goals and gave what his own manager called an unbelievable performance as Manchester City beat Crystal Palace 4-1 at Selhurst Park. The result marked what many are calling the first real statement of the post-Pep Guardiola era at the club.
According to a report by BBC Sport, Cherki's afternoon started on a rough note. He was openly critical of his own first-half display in a live television interview after the match, giving what the report described as a colourfully uncomplimentary and unprintable description of his performance. Erling Haaland, standing next to him while waiting to hand over the player-of-the-match award, could only laugh.
The second half told a different story. Cherki produced a performance that made his self-criticism look absurd, scoring two goals that put the match away for City. The win came one week after he came off the bench to assist two late goals in a victory over Bournemouth on the opening weekend of the season.
Cherki, who joined Manchester City from Lyon for £30 million, made 33 Premier League appearances last season under Guardiola, but 14 of those came as a substitute. The sense coming into this season was that he had something to prove under new manager Enzo Maresca, and Saturday's performance was a direct answer to that pressure.
Maresca was satisfied with more than just the goals. He pointed specifically to Cherki's work without the ball, noting that the attacker had effectively neutralized Crystal Palace midfielder Adam Wharton throughout the match. Wharton is one of the players City have been monitoring as they look to strengthen Maresca's squad.
"He's happy and I'm happy," Maresca said. "It was not just his performance with the two goals, but his work off the ball. He pressed and gave us a complete performance on the ball and off the ball. Rayan is Rayan. We know him. He loves football and it makes it so much easier to work with him. The quality he has in this moment helps the team, not just with assists but goals."
Maresca went further when speaking to BBC Match of the Day. "His performance off the ball was unbelievable," he said. "Everyone knows his quality but when he works hard off the ball, he was in charge of Adam Wharton. He controlled him. He was very good."
Cherki had a difficult World Cup with France, starting only once, in the third-fourth place play-off against England. France were 4-0 down at half-time when he was substituted off. Videos also surfaced during the tournament showing what appeared to be visible displeasure toward coach Didier Deschamps.
Maresca had noted after the Bournemouth match that Cherki is not easy to manage when unhappy, saying "if he is not happy he wants to show it." At Selhurst Park, he showed something else entirely.
