In the second round of the Premier League, Manchester City defeated Crystal Palace 4-1 away. After the match, The Athletic analyzed the game, stating that Cherki will be at the heart of Maresca's new Manchester City, and suggested that Manchester City needs to sign three players to strengthen their bench depth.

Reports indicate that Manchester City's lineup against Crystal Palace was quite surprising. Maresca deployed Guehi at center-back, Josko Gvardiol played at left-back, and Nico O'Reilly appeared in midfield alongside Elliot Anderson. Even so, Crystal Palace had a better start than Manchester City, completing three shots in the first five minutes.

Haaland has an almost supernatural ability to score against Crystal Palace. In the 16th minute, he headed in a cross from Semenyo, with the ball flying over Dean Henderson and into the net. Manchester City had six shots on target in the first half, the first time they had achieved this in a single Premier League half since May 2024.

In the 54th minute, Cherki extended Manchester City's lead to 2-0 after a brilliant dribble. Crystal Palace almost immediately responded, with Eberechi Eze's free-kick hitting the crossbar and deflecting off Donnarumma into the net. Cherki then scored his second goal in this chaotic five-minute spell, helping Manchester City regain a two-goal advantage.

Maresca then confidently brought on 18-year-old Ayyoub Bouaddi for his Manchester City debut. After Bouaddi joined from Lille for £86 million ($116 million), Haaland scored Manchester City's fourth goal, making it a very satisfying night for the new Manchester City manager.

Cherki: One of the Premier League's brightest talents

Cherki cast a few glances at the Crystal Palace fans while celebrating two brilliant goals, receiving a lively send-off when he was substituted. This is one of the reasons he has the chance to become one of the biggest stars in England's top flight.

Cherki is mysterious, artistic, and courageous. His first goal in this match was very similar to his goal against Arsenal at the end of last season—like a protagonist in a superhero movie slowing down time, easily dodging obstacles, completely in control. When he's in form, it's like he's always one step ahead of everyone else. His second goal when Manchester City was leading might even be more exquisite than the one against Arsenal.

Although his second goal had a deflection, which was a slight disappointment, he surged into the Crystal Palace box and shot directly into the net. This was another one of those moments that makes fans around the world ask their friends in group chats, "Did you see what Cherki just did?"

He provided two assists in Manchester City's 2-1 victory over Bournemouth and was one of Manchester City's standout performers in that game as well. The player data panel below also illustrates this. Cherki will be at the heart of this new Manchester City.

Haaland's goal was almost inevitable

Haaland has now scored 10 goals in 6 appearances against Crystal Palace. Although he didn't look at his best in the first round of the season, his finishing ability was at its sharpest in South London this time.

Despite his height, he isn't always the best at aerial duels, but this opening header was handled beautifully. The ball soared high before dipping under the crossbar, with the angle and power perfectly judged, making it impossible for the goalkeeper to stop it, even with a full-stretch save.

From the first minute, he showed a strong desire to compete, constantly pressing Crystal Palace defenders and dropping back to help clear set pieces, making his presence felt in both attack and defense. His fourth goal was a clean strike that completely killed the game and secured the victory for his team.

Haaland always has strong starts to the season. After a goalless game, he seems to have re-entered goal-scoring mode, quickly regaining his shooting touch in front of goal and responding to external expectations with efficient performance.

Guehi returns to his familiar position

Before the match, Maresca told Sky Sports that he wanted Guehi to play in midfield against Bournemouth last weekend because he needed stronger central combativeness. "After the Arsenal game (Community Shield), we struggled a bit in the middle," Maresca said. "You need tough midfielders, and Guehi can do that."

Guehi did indeed deliver, especially in winning back possession. However, Maresca never intended to play him in midfield again at Selhurst Park, so he returned to the defensive line, and Guehi's workload was no less demanding.

Manchester City's system requires Gvardiol to leave the left-back position to participate in attack or high pressing, which leaves Guehi with significant covering duties, and Crystal Palace was eager to exploit these spaces.

Guehi had to remain vigilant, and completely different from last weekend, he performed excellently again. It's not surprising that Manchester City's recent transfer dealings have been questioned, as many players signed in the past two years have been sold off, but Guehi and Cherki are very important assets.

Why Manchester City still has much to do in the transfer window

Fortunately, Manchester City was not forced to rely heavily on their bench in this match, as their squad depth is thinner compared to recent seasons, even during periods of injury crises.

Apart from Jeremy Doku, Manchester City doesn't actually have many injury concerns; they've simply sold fringe players and haven't brought in replacements yet.

Around the 70th minute, Kovacic replaced a slightly limping Gvardiol. Kovacic started all four pre-season matches, including the Community Shield, but he was not in the starting lineup against Bournemouth, which indicates his position in the midfield pecking order.

With 10 minutes left in the game, two 18-year-old players came on—debutant Bouaddi and winger Rayan McAdoo. McAdoo has great potential and might feature in domestic cup competitions this season, but this is clearly not ideal squad depth.

Grealish's absence from the squad due to his impending departure means Manchester City still needs at least three new signings this season to provide themselves with adequate options.

Alan is set to join from Palmeiras, and Manchester City is also working to finalize deals for Enzo Fernandez and Iliman Ndiaye, but the bench performance in this game also suggests they might even need more personnel. However, the performance of the starting eleven at least indicates that the team as a whole is functioning smoothly.

What did Maresca say?

The Manchester City manager was very pleased with Cherki and the team's performance. Speaking to Sky Sports after the match, he said: "He is helping us. He will continue to help us in the future. We know he is a high-level player; he provided two assists against Bournemouth last game and scored two goals today. But I also think Cherki is excellent without the ball. He did a great job limiting Wharton and worked very hard.

"This was a difficult pitch to play on. We knew that before the game. You could see it from the first few minutes. But then we took control of the game. The team's intensity and desire were very good."

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