Crystal Palace 1-4 Manchester City: Cherki brace and Haaland double sink hosts
By Ali Ammar · goals2026.org
Manchester City underlined their title credentials with a ruthless 4-1 victory over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, as Erling Haaland's double either side of a Rayan Cherki hat-trick of contributions turned a tight opening into a one-sided rout. The result, in this Matchweek 2 fixture, will have delighted the visiting supporters as City stretched their legs in the Premier League table.
Haaland breaks the deadlock
It took Manchester City just seventeen minutes to make their dominance count. Erling Haaland found the net for the Normal Goal that put the visitors ahead, continuing his fine early-season form. The Norwegian's tournament tally now stands at two goals, and his movement caused Palace's back line problems throughout the afternoon. Crystal Palace, who could muster only a single shot on target across the whole match, struggled to live with the pace and precision of City's front line from the outset.
Cherki takes control after the break
Rayan Cherki turned the contest into a procession in the second half. Booked in the first period for a challenge on 33 minutes, the Frenchman put that behind him to score in the 54th minute, doubling City's lead. Two minutes later Crystal Palace pulled a goal back in unfortunate circumstances, with Gianluigi Donnarumma turning the ball into his own net to make it 2-1 — the goalkeeper's error the only real crumb of comfort for the home crowd. Any hope of a Palace revival was extinguished almost immediately, however, as Cherki struck again in the 59th minute to restore City's three-goal cushion and complete his second of the afternoon. His performance took his tournament figures to two goals and two assists, further proof of the growing influence he is having in Pep Guardiola's side.
Palace reshuffle, City see it out
Crystal Palace boss made wholesale changes in an attempt to change the picture, sending on Jaydee Larsen, Eddie Nketiah, Yeremy Pino, Takehiro Tomiyasu and eventually recalling Ayyoub Khalaili as a second-half substitute after he had earlier been shown a yellow card. None of it altered the pattern of the game, with City's midfield and defence — protected superbly by Dean Henderson and Walter Benítez at the other end for the hosts — comfortably seeing out proceedings. City, for their part, managed the closing stages sensibly, with Emile Anderson picking up a yellow card of his own on 55 minutes before being withdrawn late on, and fresh legs introduced in Joško Gvardiol, Rayan Cherki, Emile Anderson, Abdukodir Khusanov and Nico O'Reilly as Guardiola rotated his options with the game long since settled.
Erling Haaland was not finished, either. The striker completed his double in the 84th minute, stabbing home his second Normal Goal of the match to make it 4-1 and put a emphatic seal on a dominant away display. It capped a display that saw Manchester City control every phase of play against a Crystal Palace side that never truly got a foothold in the contest.
The numbers behind the result
The statistics painted a stark picture of City's superiority. The visitors enjoyed 73% of possession to Palace's 27%, and were rampant in front of goal with 18 shots to the hosts' nine — nine of City's efforts tested the goalkeeper compared to just one from Palace. City's expected goals figure of 1.45 comfortably outstripped Palace's 0.57, while a six-to-two corner count further reflected the gulf in territorial control. Walter Benítez, on as part of Palace's goalkeeping unit for the day, was kept busy with four saves, but ultimately could do little about the quality City produced.
What it means
For Manchester City, this was a statement win that showcased strength in depth as well as star quality, with Erling Haaland and Rayan Cherki both boosting their tournament numbers — Haaland now has two goals this campaign, while Cherki's return of two goals and two assists marks him out as a key contributor. Crystal Palace, by contrast, will need to regroup quickly. Full coverage of this fixture and the reaction from both camps can be found at the match centre, with further analysis available via our news section in the days ahead.