By Kazeem Ugbodaga
Manchester City produced a dominant display at Selhurst Park on Friday night, cruising to a 4-1 victory over Crystal Palace as Erling Haaland and Rayan Cherki both scored twice in the Premier League encounter.
The emphatic victory gave City another impressive result under manager Enzo Maresca, following their 2-1 comeback win over Bournemouth in their opening league fixture.
The match also marked City’s first Premier League away game of the 2026/27 campaign.
Haaland opened the scoring in the 17th minute, rising to meet a cross before directing a powerful header into the top corner beyond the reach of Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson.
City continued to control proceedings after taking the lead, with Palace struggling to contain the visitors’ movement and attacking pressure.
Cherki doubled City’s advantage nine minutes after the restart. The France international produced a superb individual run before firing a low shot into the bottom-left corner in the 54th minute to make it 2-0.
Palace were handed a lifeline two minutes later when City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma put the ball through his own net, reducing the deficit to 2-1. The hosts briefly threatened to make the game more competitive, with Yeremy Pino subsequently hitting the crossbar from a free-kick.
City, however, quickly restored their two-goal cushion.
Cherki struck again in the 59th minute, collecting a pass before unleashing an unstoppable effort into the left side of the net to complete his brace and put City 3-1 ahead.
Palace struggled to mount a sustained response as City continued to dictate possession and create openings.
Haaland then completed his own brace in the 84th minute, receiving a precise low pass inside the box and smashing the ball into the top-left corner to seal a convincing 4-1 victory for the visitors.
For Palace, the defeat compounds a difficult beginning to the campaign after they opened the season with a 2-0 defeat away to Everton.
