Manchester City continued their perfect league start under Enzo Maresca with a hard-fought 4-1 win over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.
Erling Haaland opened his account for the season — and the scoring in this game — with a first-half header, continuing his fine record against the Eagles. He’s now scored 10 goals in six league games against Crystal Palace. Rayan Cherki doubled Man City’s advantage shortly after the break, dancing through the Palace defence before deftly finishing past Dean Henderson.
Crystal Palace got a goal back moments later, with Gianluigi Donnarumma inadvertently putting the ball into his own net after Yeremy Pino’s free-kick hit the bar. But Cherki restored Man City’s two-goal lead shortly after with an excellent strike from outside the box.
Haaland got his second of the game to wrap up the win, making the match look more comfortable than it actually was.
Crystal Palace vs Man City analysis:
Man City’s attack turns up
Man City may have won their opening game against Bournemouth, but it wasn’t convincing. They had to come from a goal down and both goals in the 2-1 victory were scored by defenders. The Citizens’ attack came under criticism, particularly Erling Haaland who had failed to score on the Premier League’s opening weekend for the first time since he joined Man City four years ago.
Haaland had five shots and hit the target twice, both more than any other Man City player. But he missed a gilt-edged opportunity in the first half, failing to connect with his attempted kick, with the ball hitting his chest. It wasn’t even registered as one of his five shots. Antoine Semenyo similarly struggled against his former club, with just one shot and no chances created.
They both got up and running at Selhurst Park — as did Phil Foden — though they were all outshone by Rayan Cherki.
The Cherki show
Rayan Cherki was the one shining light for Man City last weekend, coming off the bench to set up both goals in the win over Bournemouth. He was heavily involved once more at Selhurst Park, this time with a brace of goals. Both goals showed the different aspects of Cherki’s game, one coming thanks to nimble footwork, and the other pure footballing ability. The Frenchman created three chances and completed three take-ons, with no Man City player managing more in either metric.
Semenyo matched Cherki for his chances created, with three. And he set up the opening goal with a lovely cross finding Haaland in the box. The Norwegian led the game for his five shots, with three on target, including his two goals. He is one of just two players to have scored 20+ goals with his strong foot (81), 10+ goals with his weak foot (13) and 10+ goals with his head (19) since he joined the Premier League in 2022/23. The only other to match Haaland during that time is Ollie Watkins, with 36 strong-foot goals, 14 weak-foot and 16 headed.
And a note for Phil Foden, too. The Englishman looked to be struggling in the first half, leading to worries of another underwhelming campaign. But he ended the game with two assists from three chances created.
Early warning sides for Sage
Two games into the new Premier League season is far too soon for alarm bells to be ringing. And Pierre Sage has inherited a Crystal Palace side in an interesting situation. But there has been a trend across their first two matches that the Eagles will want to put an early end to.
Across their first two Premier League games under Sage, Palace have taken 20 shots, hitting the target five times with 1.96 Expected Goals. And they’ve only scored once.
Everton 2-0 Crystal Palace momentum chart
Crystal Palace 1-4 Man City momentum chart
Crystal Palace have started both of their league games this season on the front foot. They had the first three shots in their opening match against Everton, with one effort on target and 0.49 xG combined. The Eagles also had four of the first five shots in the match. But they only had one of the next five shots, a run that saw Everton take the lead. Palace ended that game goalless, with only four shots on target from 11, with 1.33 xG.
Playing their first home game of the season, Palace had three shots in the opening five minutes against Man City. All before their visitors had their first effort. Two of Palace’s shots were from inside the box, garnering 0.12 xG, though they failed to hit the target. By the time Crystal Palace had had their fourth shot, Man City had had seven, with four on target and one goal. Palace’s fourth shot came through Jorgen Strand Larsen, a good opportunity from a header with Gianluigi Donnarumma beaten — though it would have been ruled out had it gone in, with replays showing the Norwegian had strayed offside.
The Eagles ended the game with nine shots, creating two big chances, with just one effort on target. And that wasn’t even their goal, with a bit of good fortune following Yeremy Pino’s free-kick. It was a strike worthy of the luck, though.
A midfield battle
Alongside the game itself at Selhurst Park, there was an interesting storyline in midfield. Elliot Anderson was starting his second Premier League game for Man City after his big-money move from Nottingham Forest. Adam Wharton was starting again for Crystal Palace, having been subject to interest from many other clubs — with the Eagles holding firm.
There was a lot more praise for Wharton’s performance in the game, but Anderson came out looking strong. Of course, the stats will be influenced by Man City’s control. But Anderson had 119 touches in the game, the second-most of any player. Wharton only had 38, ranking him seventh among Palace players. Anderson also had the better passing accuracy, completing 90.82% of his attempts, to Wharton’s 81.48%.
Anderson also won the defensive battle, with five tackles to Wharton’s four — despite Man City’s domination of possession. The Man City man also made three interceptions to Wharton’s one, and won possession five times (to three). That’s not to say Wharton had a bad game, though. Were the roles reversed, Wharton would have been putting in Anderson’s numbers. And Anderson would be left cursing a lower quality level among his teammates.
There isn’t long left for Wharton to move on this summer. So it may be time for him to knuckle down, and become even more desirable as the season goes on.