Manchester City star Rayan Cherki spoke to reporters after his star turn in the 4-1 Premier League win over Crystal Palace
Rayan Cherki
Rayan Cherki
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Rayan Cherki fired Manchester City to victory at Crystal Palace after worrying he was going to get hooked at half-time. And the feisty Frenchman is already motivated to win more with new coach Enzo Maresca.
Wearing a kit with the Manchester bee running through it, keen boxer Cherki floated like a butterfly at Selhurst Park before stinging the home side with two quickfire goals after half-time to give City a control that they would not let go. The Blues eventually ran out 4-1 winners to pick up their second straight win.
Maresca made it clear how unhappy Cherki was not to start against Bournemouth last week before he came on to produce two assists and turn that game on its head, but a few days on and it was the coach who was unhappy with the player. The 23-year-old pleaded to stay on for the second half and backed up his words with a dazzling performance after the break.
"When I see the coach want to change me, I'm not happy with that. I understand because I don't play well in the first half. I need to show him that I'm here to help the team," he said.
"I said 'Enzo, give me five minutes and I'll show you'. Just that. Because it's true, I didn't play well in the first half. But we know Crystal Palace defend very well. They closed the space inside for me. We have big space outside for Josko, for Nico, for Antoine, for Phil.
"When I take more freedom in the second half, it was much better. It's like a boxing match. We see, we feel and we feel where is the space."
City have lots to do in the final days of the transfer window, with at least three new players needed. Palmeiras winger Allan will be one of them, Enzo Fernandez is expected to be another while Everton's Iliman Ndiaye and Liverpool's Cody Gakpo are among other attacking options looked at in a total spend that could pass £450m and break the British transfer record.
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Despite needing reinforcements, it has been a positive start from Maresca taking over from Pep Guardiola. Wins from their opening two league games have banished memories of the Community Shield defeat to Arsenal, and the players that are already at the Etihad are enjoying working with the new coach.
"We love to play. We love to play. It's the identity of Manchester City," said Cherki. "And we are very happy with that. Enzo is a very, very big coach. We feel when we train, we feel he knows a lot. And for us, it's very nice. And we want to work with him. We want to win with him."