Erling Haaland and Rayan Cherki each bagged braces and Phil Foden recorded two assists as Manchester City rolled overCrystal Palace 4-1 at Selhurst Park on Friday.
MORE — Cherki, Maresca react to City’s big win
City improve to 2-0 in the Premier League under Enzo Maresca, while Pierre Sage’s Palace remain on the hunt for a first point through two matches of the 2026-27 Premier League season.
Longtime Palace star Marc Guehi returned to Selhurst Park and didn’t have a ton to do in a back four with Josko Gvardiol, Ruben Dias, and Abdukodir Khusanov — Yeremy Pino’s free kick off the cross bar hit the back of Gianluigi Donnarumma and bounded in for an own goal to represent Palace’s marker.
WATCH FULL MATCH REPLAY — Crystal Palace v Man City
USMNT back Chris Richards went 90 minutes for Palace, while American teenager Zavier Gozo came off the bench to make his Premier League debut for the Eagles.
Cherki, Foden, Haaland, Guehi... too many stars as City rip through Palace
Rayan Cherki’s two goals — one a mazy wonder — earned him Man of the Match honors from City’s Friday rout, but as many as four players could lay claim to the honor with a straight face. Erling Haaland scored early and occupied City defenders all day and Josko Gvardiol broke the lines with passes and kept the left side a no-go zone for Palace. Phil Foden had two assists and might’ve had a brace to go with it on another day. Four City players led by Marc Guehi’s 120 had over 100 touches and one of them — Ruben Dias — completed all 106 of his passes. Guehi also had a bonkers 28 line-breaking passes according to fotmob, with 17 passes going into the final third. He was incredible. Cherki, Foden, and Antoine Semenyo were credited with three created chances. Did we mention Anderson? We didn’t. Wow.
And here’s the thing: Palace weren’t that bad!
Crystal Palace vs Manchester City final score: 1-4
Erling Haaland 17', 84', Rayan CHerki 54', 59', Gianluigi Donnarumma o.g. 57'
What’s next?
Man City host Coventry City at 10am ET on September 5, then head to Old Trafford for the Manchester derby on September 13.
Palace are off to Fulham at 10am on Sept. 5, then host Ipswich Town on Sept. 12.
Rayan Cherki wasn’t over-the-moon about his two-goal day, which came about a week after a two-assist day.
“My performance is so-so,” Cherki said to Sky Sports after the win. “In the first half, we didn’t find the space, I played bad. I need to show them I want to play, I want to score. Next time I want to give the ball around more.”
Read more from Cherki and get some thoughts from boss Enzo Maresca, here.
Man City’s boss Enzo Maresca has spoken from Selhurst Park, where he’s been asked about Rayan Cherki’s big day.
“He’s helping us,” Maresca said. “He’s going to help us in the future. We know he is a quality player. Rayan was very, very good off the ball. He was in control of [Adam] Wharton.”
Read more here, including Cherki’s thoughts.
Here’s Palace manager Pierre Sage speaking to Sky Sports on disappointments in the game:
“We were able to play 60, 65 minutes staying in the game but when I made the substitutions, the energy of the team went down and I’m a little bit angry with that.”
Was he angry himself or the players?
“Both, because we are together and I wish my team was in every moment. I talked to the players — today we existed in this game with many chances. 3-1 was really poor because we made a tactical mistake. We had a lot of chances and it’s difficult to level up against this kind of team.”
Vitor Reis and Kaden Braithwaite get season debuts for Khusanov and O’Reilly. Not too long left as we enter added time.
Phil Foden dances through the midfield and into the arc before sliding the ball to old pal Haaland, who smashes the ball through Henderson’s hopeful hands.
As we wrote the last post, Maresca introduced Mateo Kovacic for Gvardiol.
Now he’ll introduce expensive new addition Ayyoub Bouaddi and fellow 18-year-old Ryan McAidoo for Cherki and Anderson.
3-1 City into the 82nd minute.
Palace make two more moves, bringing Oscar Mingueza and Axel Disasi into the game for the final 15 minutes.
Enzo Maresca could be makng a point about his team, which moved Nico Gonzalez, Omar Marmoush, and Savio to new places this week. He’s still not made a sub and we’re into the 77th minute.
United States men’s national prospect Zavier Gozo makes his Premier League debut after arriving from Real Salt Lake earlier this month.
He’s into the game along with Dwight McNeil for Pino and Nketiah.
3-1 City, now into the 70th minute.
Evann Guessand is into the game for Jorgen Strand Larsen in the 63rd minute.
Cherki and Anderson are on yellow, so City could well make a move soon, too.
The goal barrage continues as Cherki takes an inlet from Josko Gvardiol and smashes a deflected shot past Henderson.
Three goals in six minutes between two teams in South London.
Yeremy Pino whips in a free kick.
It beats the wall and then the underside of the bar before bounding off a flying Donnarumma’s back and over the line for an own goal.
This is some nifty footwork.
Cherki gets the ball from Phil Foden off a Palace turnover in their own end.
He dances between several players before contorting his body to poke inside the far post from a ridiculous ankle.
Words don’t really do it justice.
Palace do some good work coming down the left and Eddie Nketiah works a 1-2 with Tyrick Mitchell, getting the better of Elliot Anderson but unable to guide his low, hard shot inside the far post.
Into the 50th minute.
Palace have definitely been second-best but Pierre Sage’s men have made it to the team room down a single goal.
What changes might come at the break? Dwight McNeil, Evann Guessand, and Zavier Gozo would all like to change the Eagles’ attack.
City have an 11-7 in shot attempts while xG sits at 0.85-0.31. The visitors’ possession sits at 67%.
It remains 1-0 to City but Palace have had to put out some fires.
They also had some good luck as Phil Foden blazed a really strong look over the goal.
Tyrick Mitchell just dealt well with Semenyo and the half-hour mark arrives with Palace within one goal.
Antoine Semenyo sails in a cross from the left.
Chris Richards isn’t able to rise to meet it, and Haaland rises high to pop the header over Henderson.
It loops into the goal.
1-0, 17'
City get right to the doorstep and Dean Henderson is called into action, slapping the ball away but allowing Erling Haaland an awkward lunch at the edge of the six.
Palace get another clearnce, but City are finding their footing.
Crystal Palace midfielder Adam Wharton flashes the wand of a playmaker from deep in the midfield with a first-touch long ball that sends Eddie Nketiah into a 1v1.
The ex-Arsenal man wins a corner that turns into another, the latter caught by Gigio Donnarumma.
0-0, 4'.
Palace in white kits with a blue and red diagonal sash, while City are in black with yellow trim.
A decidedly defensive arrangement, with new signing Axel Disasi waiting his turn. Daniel Munoz could be on his way out, while new American winger Zavier Gozo is on the bench.
Starting XI
Henderson
Khalaili
Canvot
Richards
Tomiyasu
Mitchell
Wharton
Kamada
Pino
Nketiah
Strand Larsen
Subs: Benitez, Munoz, Disasi, Mingueza, Hughes, Lerma, Gozo, McNeil, Guessand
New signing Ayyoub Bouaddi begins the day on the bench, as does Rico Lewis.
Starting XI
Donnarumma
Khusanov
Gvardiol
Dias
O’Reilly
Anderson
Guehi
Foden
Cherki
Semenyo
Haaland
Subs: Rulli, Kovačić, Aït-Nouri, Reis, Echeverri, Bouaddi, McAidoo, Braithwaite, Lewis
Man City swept the series last season with 3-0 wins home and away, and they haven’t lost to Crystal Palace in the Premier League since October 2021.
That said, Palace beat City in the FA Cup Final on May 17 — not a small deal — and have taken draws from Palace in three of the last five seasons.
All time, City have 41 wins, 17 draws, and 18 losses against the Eagles.
Palace’s Europa League schedule will see Real Sociedad, Sparta Prague, Lech Poznan, and Hoffenheim head to Selhurst Park, while the Eagles will head to Lyon, Salzburg, Besiktas, and Jagiellonia Bialystok.
City are in the Champions League and they’ll host PSG, Sporting Lisbon, Napoli, and AEK Athens while heading away to Barcelona, Porto, RB Leipzig, and Lens.
Ayyoub Bouaddi is available for selection, according to Enzo Maresca.
“We will see how long it is in terms of adaptation but for sure he is ready to go,” he said. "“t is my job and it’s the club’s job to manage him in the best way, don’t put pressure on him, he is young and he needs time.”
Jeremy Doku will miss the game, while Matheus Nunes is a question mark.
Kick off time: 3pm ET Friday, August 28
Venue: Selhurst Park — South London
TV Channel: USA
Stream link: Watch online via USA
