Rayan Cherki and Erling Haaland Shine in Manchester City's 4-1 Victory

Rayan Cherki and Erling Haaland both struck twice as Manchester City swept past Crystal Palace 4-1 in London on Friday night, preserving the champion’s flawless start to the Premier League season.

Haaland, last season’s Golden Boot winner, needed just 17 minutes to get moving. Drifting into space, he met a cross with a controlled header, steering the ball neatly past the Palace defense and opening his account for the new campaign.

City settled, then tightened their grip after the break.

Cherki, who had been drifting between the lines all evening, exploded into life early in the second half. Slaloming through a crowd of defenders, he slipped into the box and, from close range, prodded the ball home to make it 2-0, a goal born more from balance and quick feet than raw power.

Palace refused to fold. Almost straight from the restart, they halved the deficit in bizarre fashion. Yeremy Pino whipped a superb free kick against the crossbar; the ball cannoned down, struck the back of a scrambling Gianluigi Donnarumma and bounced over the line. Fortunate, yes, but it dragged the home side back into the contest.

The revival barely had time to breathe.

Two minutes later, Cherki struck again. Collecting the ball just outside the area, he let fly. His effort took a deflection, wrong-footing Dean Henderson and spinning into the net. It restored City’s two-goal cushion and delivered the first Premier League brace of Cherki’s career, a sharp statement from a player stepping out of the supporting cast.

From there, City controlled the tempo, moving the ball with authority and forcing Palace to chase shadows. The hosts pushed sporadically, but every foray forward left space behind, and that is where Haaland thrives.

Six minutes from time, the Norwegian closed the show. A left-footed finish, clinical and unhurried, sealed his own brace and City’s second win from two, pushing them to the top of the table with six points and an ominous sense of familiarity.

Different season, new supporting faces, but the same ruthless City machine.