On August 28th, Manchester City arrived at Selhurst Park with a new manager. It was also a new era, and they apparently had absolutely no interest in taking things slowly.
Enzo Maresca’s City dismantled Crystal Palace 4-1, making it two wins from two Premier League games and giving everyone an early glimpse of what life after the legendary Pep Guardiola might look like.
Spoiler alert: It still involves Manchester City passing the ball around until the opposition starts questioning every career decision they’ve ever made.
The stars of the evening were, of course, Erling Haaland and Rayan Cherki, who both scored twice. Palace DID manage to get on the scoresheet, although technically City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma did most of the work for them.
Let’s get into it down below.
Haaland starts the party
Crystal Palace actually started things off in bright fashion.
Eddie Nketiah nearly gave Palace the lead inside the opening couple of minutes, forcing Donnarumma into an early save. For a brief moment, Palace fans could dream.
Then Manchester City started to remember that they were Manchester City.
In the 17th minute, Antoine Semenyo delivered a beautiful cross into the box, and Erling Haaland rose above the Palace defence to send a looping header beyond Dean Henderson.
1-0 City.
This goal was also Haaland’s first goal of the 2026/27 Premier League season.
And naturally, the giant Norwegian celebrated by doing what he does best: Looking like someone who has just been informed that scoring goals is, in fact, his job.
City continued creating chances, with Phil Foden even missing a rather inviting opportunity.
At half-time, Palace were still alive.
Unfortunately for them, Manchester City had apparently decided that their being “alive” was temporary.
Enter Rayan Cherki
If the first half belonged to Haaland, the second half belonged to Rayan Cherki.
And good grief, did Cherki enjoy himself.
Just nine minutes after the restart, Cherki received the ball from Foden and proceeded to slalom through the Palace defence as if the defenders had collectively agreed to give him personal space.
Three Palace players attempted to deal with him.
But Cherki said, “No”.
He eventually poked the ball past Henderson to make it 2-0.
It was the sort of goal that makes defenders stare at each other afterwards and silently ask:
“Was that my fault?”
The answer was probably “yes”.
Palace get a gift
Just when it looked like City were going to cruise comfortably toward victory, Palace pulled one back.
Yéremy Pino launched a spectacular free-kick toward the City goal in the 56th minute.
Unfortunately for Donnarumma, the ball clipped him on the way in.
1-2.
Officially, it went down as an own goal.
Unofficially, Pino can probably still claim he meant to do that.
For approximately three minutes, Palace had hope.
Then Cherki decided he’d had enough of that “hope” nonsense.
Cherki says: “No comeback today”
Only three minutes after Palace’s goal, Cherki struck again.
But this time it was from outside the box.
The Frenchman unleashed a vicious effort that found the net after taking a generous deflection off a Palace defender.
3-1 City.
Palace’s comeback lasted roughly as long as a free trial subscription.
Cherki had two goals, City had their two-goal cushion back, and Selhurst Park was beginning to resemble a very expensive training exercise.
The performance was particularly impressive considering Cherki had spent much of last season in and out of the starting XI.
Based on this match, Maresca may want to keep him in the lineup.
Preferably permanently.
Haaland adds the cherry on top
With six minutes remaining, Haaland decided that Cherki was getting a little too much attention.
Phil Foden drove into the Palace box and squared the ball toward the Norwegian.
Haaland responded by absolutely hammering the ball into the top corner.
4-1.
Game over.
Two goals for Haaland.
Two goals for Cherki.
Three points for City.
And somewhere, a Crystal Palace defender was probably staring blankly into the distance, wondering why he had chosen football as a profession.
The numbers tell the story
The scoreline was convincing, but the statistics were even more revealing.
City enjoyed 72% possession compared with Palace’s 28%, completed 721 passes to Palace’s 232, and registered 18 shots to Palace’s nine.
In other words, City had the ball so much that Palace probably should have asked for it back.
They were also extremely efficient in front of goal, putting nine shots on target.
Palace managed one. That one went in.
Technically, it went in off City’s goalkeeper, but it still went in.
Football is a strange sport.
Maresca’s City are up and running
The victory gives Maresca six points from his first two Premier League games as Manchester City manager.
There were plenty of questions surrounding City following Guardiola’s departure.
Could they maintain their dominance? Would the new manager change their style?
Would the players need time to adapt?
After two matches, the answers appear to be:
“Yes, probably.”
City opened the season with a win over Bournemouth and followed it up by beating Palace 4-1 away from home.
That’s a pretty convincing start.
And perhaps most encouragingly for City supporters, the team already appears to have a dangerous attacking combination in Haaland and Cherki.
Haaland provides the goals.
Cherki provides the chaos.
Foden provides the assists.
And Palace provides the occasional goalkeeper-assisted goal!
See? Everybody has a role.
Final thoughts
Manchester City didn’t just beat Crystal Palace.
They basically showed up at Selhurst Park, took control of the football, scored four goals and went home.
Haaland’s two goals were classic Haaland: Powerful, ruthless and mildly terrifying.
But Cherki absolutely stole the show.
His two second-half goals demonstrated exactly why City have such high hopes for him.
He manages to combine dribbling, creativity and outrageous confidence on a consistent basis. That type of player can also make football fans sit forward on a consistent basis.
And they do so with only one thought occupying their heads:
“Okay, this lad might be something special.”
For Crystal Palace, it was a frustrating night. They showed flashes of danger, but once City found their rhythm, the game quickly slipped away.
For Manchester City, however, it’s another three points and another warning shot to the rest of the Premier League.
The Post-Guardiola era is officially underway.
And judging by the evidence from Selhurst Park, City haven’t received the memo that they’re supposed to be rebuilding.
New manager. Same old problems.
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