Manchester City produced a dominant display at Selhurst Park on Friday, cruising to a 4-1 victory over Crystal Palace in their second Premier League game of the season.
Rayan Cherki was the standout performer, scoring twice in the second half as City turned their control of the game into a convincing victory.
Erling Haaland also found the net twice, while Palace’s only goal came through an unfortunate own goal by City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
City dominated possession from the start and finished the game with 72 per cent of the ball.
They also recorded 18 shots compared with Palace’s nine, with nine of City’s attempts on target while the hosts managed just one.
Haaland opened the scoring in the 17th minute when he headed Antoine Semenyo’s cross beyond Dean Henderson to give the visitors a 1-0 lead at half-time.
City continued to control proceedings after the restart and doubled their advantage in the 54th minute.
Cherki collected a pass from Phil Foden before calmly finishing to make it 2-0.
Palace responded just two minutes later in bizarre fashion. Yéremy Pino’s effort struck the post before rebounding off Donnarumma and into the net, handing the hosts an unexpected lifeline.
Their hopes of completing a comeback, however, lasted only three minutes.
Cherki restored City’s two-goal advantage in the 59th minute, meeting a cutback from Joško Gvardiol and firing into the bottom corner.
Haaland then put the result beyond doubt six minutes from full-time, finishing a Foden pass with his left foot to complete City’s fourth goal.
Palace worked hard defensively and won more tackles than their opponents, but they struggled to create clear opportunities in the final third. They finished with just 0.57 expected goals and only one effort on target.
Cherki’s two goals came from three shots on target, while he also completed 58 of 63 passes, created a big chance and supplied three key passes.
Haaland finished with five shots despite touching the ball only 20 times, while Foden contributed two assists and three key passes.
The emphatic victory gives City an early boost as they continue their Premier League campaign, while Palace will have to regroup after being outplayed for long periods at home.
