Pep Guardiola and Man City fans will be praying to whichever gods they worship that Erling Haaland belongs to them. The giant Norwegian is in the form of his life, carrying his side on those broad shoulders.
Haaland already has 13 goals from his ten Premier League games, while none of his teammates have scored more than a single league goal. City are missing a Kevin de Bruyne-esque player that can bring others into the fold and keep feeding their striker.
Signed from Lyon for a reported fee of around £30 million, Cherki, 22, was meant to be exactly that, but injuries have hampered his progress. Now, following an impressive performance in their 3-1 win over Bournemouth, he’s starting to look the part.
Signs of a beautiful relationship
The little Frenchman made his first start since picking up the thigh injury that interrupted his start to life at Man City in their 3-1 League Cup win over Swansea, assisting Omar Marmoush’s goal to make it 2-1 and scoring in added time to secure the win.
Haaland had his big feet up for that game, and Guardiola and co looked like they regretted giving him a chance to recharge up until the 77th minute, with City looking like they were destined for a penalty shoot-out with the Championship side.
Guardiola needed someone to step up, and Cherki did. The game against Bournemouth was the first time we’d see the two start together since the 2-0 defeat to Tottenham, and it was clear to see they’d been working on their relationship on the training ground.
It’s unlikely Cherki would have imagined his first Premier League assist would have been a flicked-on header from his own half, but anything is possible when you have Haaland up top and Bournemouth play a remarkably high press.
Cherki anticipated Haaland’s movement perfectly, allowing the striker to run full pelt at Djordje Petrovic in the Bournemouth goal. There was only ever going to be one outcome, and Haaland wheeled away to do a robot celebration. Get it?
The second was almost a carbon copy, only this time Cherki assisted Haaland with his feet, sending him through with a cheeky one-time pass before he rounded Petrovic and secure his brace.
Bournemouth defenders were so concerned with stopping Cherki and Haaland, one couldn’t blame them for forgetting Phil Foden was also on the pitch when the England international provided the assist for Nico O’Riley to round off the scoring.
Cherki’s brace of assists will obviously grab all the headlines, but his overall game was fantastic. He was their main creative outlet, having 69 touches, 41 accurate passes at a success rate of 85%, but only four touches in the opposition box. Bournemouth’s high line certainly played into his hands.
What are Pep Guardiola and Erling Haaland saying about Rayan Cherki?
Unsurprisingly, the two most important men at Man City at the moment were full of praise for Cherki. Haaland is looking forward to building an even more fruitful relationship with the playmaker, especially now De Bruyne is gone.
“We all know his qualities so it’s about trying to get the best out of everyone,” Haaland said. “Today he had two amazing assists to me. Hopefully there will be many more.”
Guardiola appeared to predict the future with the words he had regarding Cherki ahead of the game, telling Sky Sports: “He’s a special player. This is a special place, and out of all the managers, we want to make it like a chess game. You have to do this, you have to do that.
“And he’s a little free soul – you have to understand that. So he’s a special player, and he’s so young, and hopefully he can be open and coachable to learn what the team needs from him, with and without the ball, and all the actions that we need. But of course, he gives you something up front that is unique.”
Verdict
It’s going to take more than a couple of assists against Bournemouth to fill the shoes left by De Bruyne, but if Cherki’s numbers in France last season (12 goals, 20 assists), are anything to go by, he’s in a good place.
This weekend’s game against Bournemouth was the exact type of fixture City struggled in last season, Cherki stepping up at a time like this feels significant.