Rayan Cherki and Erling Haaland’s braces helped Manchester City maintain their unbeaten start to the season following a convincing 4-1 victory away to Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.
The French youngster, wearing the same number 10 as the Argentinian superstar, danced through the Crystal Palace defense to beat a stranded Dean Henderson and put Manchester City two goals ahead, courtesy of the opening goal from Erling Haaland in the first 45 minutes.
A big win on the road! 💪
🦅 1-4 🐝 @okx pic.twitter.com/ZfAqHZxWHC
— Manchester City (@ManCity) August 28, 2026
However, despite the promising beginning of Pierre Sage’s first game as manager at Selhurst Park, it was Haaland who was able to get on top of Chris Richards to score the first goal.
While the cheers for Cherki’s goal were still resonating, another example of individualistic performance was provided by Yeremy Pino, who from 25 yards out beat the wall before bending the free-kick onto the bar. The ball then deflected off Gianluigi Donnarumma and counted as an own goal for the Italian goalkeeper.
Five minutes after the brilliant solo run, Cherki tried to reduce the sting from the recently built momentum by scoring another audacious goal which deflected past Henderson.
While Palace created chances to score, the best one being from Tyrick Mitchell, whose close-range header failed to trouble Haaland, the Norwegian striker managed to score the second goal late on with a rasping finish past Henderson. Thus, the game was over and Palace remain on the hunt for their first victory under the new manager Sage.
Meanwhile, Maresca’s City have started life under the new manager with two victories in the league.
