Haaland, Cherki Score Twice as Man City Thrash Crystal Palace 4-1
By Cynthia Okere, Lagos
Manchester City continued their winning start to the 2026/27 Premier League season with an emphatic 4-1 victory over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Friday night.
Erling Haaland and Rayan Cherki scored twice each as City secured their second consecutive league victory under new manager Enzo Maresca.
Haaland opened the scoring in the 17th minute, heading home a cross from Antoine Semenyo to give the visitors an early advantage.
Palace created opportunities to respond, but City maintained their lead going into the interval before Cherki took control of proceedings after the restart.
The French international doubled City’s advantage in the 54th minute with an impressive individual effort.
Crystal Palace were handed a route back into the contest shortly afterwards when Yeremy Pino’s free-kick struck the crossbar and rebounded off Manchester City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma into the net, reducing the deficit to 2-1.
Any hopes of a Palace comeback were, however, short-lived.
Cherki struck again five minutes later, with his effort taking a deflection on its way into the net to restore City’s two-goal advantage.
Haaland completed the rout in the 85th minute, converting with his left foot after being set up by Phil Foden to seal the 4-1 victory.
The result represented another important step for Maresca, who has now won his opening two Premier League matches since taking charge of Manchester City following the departure of Pep Guardiola.
City began the campaign with a dramatic 2-1 victory over Bournemouth, scoring twice late in the match before following it up with a more commanding performance against Palace.
Cherki has also made an impressive start to the campaign. After providing two assists against Bournemouth, the midfielder added two goals at Selhurst Park, while Haaland opened his league scoring account for the season with his brace.
Manchester City will now turn their attention to their forthcoming fixtures as Maresca’s side look to maintain their perfect start to the new Premier League campaign.