Crystal Palace 1-4 Man City: Cherki & Haaland put up the show as the Blue Moon grasp 3pts

Game is over and the final score is Crystal Palace 1-4 Man City. Here is the match report.

Match Report

Rayan Cherki stole the show at Selhurst Park as Manchester City surged to the top of the Premier League with a 4-1 thrashing of Crystal Palace.

The stage was set for Erling Haaland to star after he opened his account for 2026-27, while new signing Ayyoub Bouaddi also made his Man City debut from the bench, but Cherki was the true difference-maker as Enzo Maresca's team made it two wins from two.

Palace were on the back foot early on, as Dean Henderson denied Elliot Anderson in the seventh minute before Jorgen Strand Larsen cleared Haaland's rebound off the line.

But City were ahead 10 minutes later as Haaland climbed over Chris Richards to send Antoine Semenyo's cross looping in over Henderson.

The visitors should have been 2-0 up before the half-hour, but Foden first curled over the bar after a good pass from Anderson and then failed to get any meaningful connection on a header from Cherki's centre.

Tyrick Mitchell also missed a header from close range at the other end, following a good pick-out from Adam Wharton, while Eddie Nketiah failed to hit the target from Mitchell's cut-back early in the second half.

Cherki then came to the fore with two goals in five minutes, though Palace also struck between the Frenchman's double.

He first held off two Palace defenders to sensationally squeeze an effort into the bottom corner, and though Palace quickly responded when Yeremy Pino's free-kick came back off the post and in off Gianluigi Donnarumma, Cherki made it 3-1 with a deflected strike from distance.

Teenager Bouaddi came on in the 82nd minute to help City see out the victory with minimal fuss, though the inevitable Haaland still fired in at the near post to round off an emphatic triumph.

Cherki takes centre stage

Cherki's two assists off the bench in City's opener against Bournemouth helped Maresca avoid a losing start to his Premier League career as City boss, and the 23-year-old proved crucial again.

He scored the first league brace of his career, in what is his 181st such appearance, while he became the third player to have a game with multiple goals and another game with multiple assists across a team's first two matches of a Premier League campaign, after Thierry Henry in 2004-05 and Didier Drogba in 2010-11.

Along with his two goals, Cherki also created a joint-team-high three chances (level with Foden and Semenyo), while also leading City for successful dribbles (three).

It was also another landmark match for Haaland, who contributed to 0.4 of City's 1.45 expected goals (xG) tally.

No one has scored more goals as a visiting player to Selhurst Park in the Premier League than Haaland (seven – level with Harry Kane), while Kane (67) is the only player to reach 50 away goals in the competition in fewer appearances than Haaland (51 goals in 68 away matches).

City can now sit back and take in the rest of the action this weekend, while they are also set to be busy in the transfer market, with Everton's Iliman Ndiaye among their reported targets before Tuesday's deadline. Palace, meanwhile, prop up the table, with Pierre Sage's squad in need of reinforcements.

Match Events

0' The match is about to start!

2' Highlight from Crystal Palace vs Man City

3' Highlight from Crystal Palace vs Man City

7' Highlight from Crystal Palace vs Man City

16' GOAL! Crystal Palace 0-1 Man City

21' Match Event for Crystal Palace vs Man City

28' Match Event for Crystal Palace vs Man City

33' Highlight from Crystal Palace vs Man City

38' Match Event for Crystal Palace vs Man City

42' Match Event for Crystal Palace vs Man City

46' Match Event for Crystal Palace vs Man City

49' Highlight from Crystal Palace vs Man City

54' GOAL! Crystal Palace 0-2 Man City (Rayan Cherki)

56' GOAL! Crystal Palace 1-2 Man City (Gianluigi Donnarumma)

59' GOAL! Crystal Palace 1-3 Man City (Rayan Cherki)

67' Match Event for Crystal Palace vs Man City

82' Match Event for Crystal Palace vs Man City

84' Match Event for Crystal Palace vs Man City

85' GOAL! Crystal Palace 1-4 Man City

Line-ups

Crystal Palace XI: Dean Henderson, Kamada, Tomiyasu, Jørgen Strand Larsen, Nketiah, Chris Richards, Yeremy, Tyrick Mitchell, Adam Wharton, Anan Khalaili, Jaydee Canvot

Subs: Walter Benítez, Hughes, Lerma, Disasi, Daniel Muñoz, McNeil, Óscar Mingueza, Evann Guessand, Zavier Gozo

Man City XI: Ruben Dias, Donnarumma, Elliot Anderson, Haaland, Foden, Guehi, Antoine Semenyo, Cherki, Gvardiol, Nico O'Reilly, Abdukodir Khusanov

Subs: Gerónimo Rulli, Kovacic, Rayan Aït-Nouri, Lewis, Echeverri, Kaden Braithwaite, Ayyoub Bouaddi, Vitor Reis, Ryan McAidoo