Rayan Cherki had two assists in Week 1, two goals in Week 2, and the French playmaker flashed a bit of ennui about his day in a 4-1 win at Crystal Palace.
“My performance is so-so,” Cherki said to Sky Sports after the win. “In the first half, we didn’t find the space, I played bad. I need to show them I want to play, I want to score. Next time I want to give the ball around more.”
MORE — Palace 1-4 Man City recap, video highlights
Cherki had some wonderful moments in the game and probably could’ve had an assist or three on another day as Antoine Semenyo, Phil Foden, and Erling Haaland were all dangerous in the win.
Man City’s moved to 2-0 in the Premier League under new boss Enzo Maresca and are atop the table heading into Week 3, and Cherki is saying big things about the team.
All this with players still arriving and growing into the team, as debutant Ayyoubd Bouaddi entered the game late. Will Maresca’s City compete for the title?
Cherki shares swagger as Man City move to 2-0 under Maresca, who praises Frenchman’s off-ball work
Cherki just turned 23 and is in his second season at City. He dialed up 11 goals and 16 assists in under 3,000 minutes across all competitions and he may destroy those figures if he keeps his early-season going deep into this season.
And he’s sensing that City can get a lot done this season, its first under new boss Maresca.
“I’m very happy for the win, see you next week,” Cherki said. “Pep was a big story, we will start another story. We want to prove it and are here for that.”
Enzo Maresca praised Cherki’s contributions away from the score sheet, too.
“He’s helping us,” Maresca said. “He’s going to help us in the future. We know he is a quality player. Rayan was very, very good off the ball. He was in control of [Adam] Wharton.”
Maresca also said his team could’ve put up some cartoonish figures on another day.
“This is a tough pitch. We knew it before the game. But then we were in control. The intensity and the desire of the team has been very good. We scored four and we probably could’ve scored more.”
Cherki says he will be better as a distributor moving forward.
“With the new manager and the new team, it’ll take time. We know the quality of Erling. He needs to score. I worry about passing for him. I didn’t find him a lot. Next week, I will find him more.”
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