Manchester City's Ruthless Second Half Leaves Crystal Palace Facing a Nervous Transfer Deadline

Crystal Palace stayed within touching distance of Manchester City for the best part of an hour at Selhurst Park on Friday night, matching the visitors for spells of play even while trailing. Then Rayan Cherki scored twice inside five minutes, Erling Haaland added a second late on, and a promising evening turned into a 4-1 defeat that leaves Pierre Sage's side pointless after two league games and staring at a genuinely difficult week.

The hour that promised more

Palace started brightly, forcing three attempts inside the first five minutes and testing Gianluigi Donnarumma with an Eddie Nketiah shot set up by a sharp Adam Wharton pass. City settled and took the lead in the 17th minute when Haaland guided in a header from Antoine Semenyo's delivery. Phil Foden then wasted a golden chance from ten yards, and Tyrick Mitchell headed wide from a Wharton cross in the 34th minute with the score still 0-1 at the break.

The second half turned quickly. Cherki doubled City's lead in the 54th minute, dancing past a couple of challenges before finishing. Two minutes later Palace pulled one back in unusual fashion: Yeremy Pino's free-kick struck the bar, hit Gianluigi Donnarumma, and went in off the post - the first Premier League own goal by a City goalkeeper since Costel Pantilimon in December 2013. Any hope was short-lived. Cherki's deflected finish off Chris Richards restored the two-goal cushion within three minutes, and Haaland completed the scoring in the 84th minute after good work from Foden.

The numbers behind the gulf

City finished with 72% possession to Palace's 28%, 18 shots to 9, and 9 shots on target to Palace's 1. Their expected-goals total of 1.45 was more than double Palace's 0.57, underlining the gap in created chances. City also completed 788 passes at 92.8% accuracy against Palace's 291 at 81.1%, and had 35 touches inside the box to Palace's 14. Those are not marginal gaps; they describe a team that never had to leave second gear once it found its rhythm after ten minutes.

Cherki's case as the signing that worked

Several of City's arrivals from last summer have already moved on, with Nico Gonzalez, Omar Marmoush and Tijjani Reijnders all departing other clubs since. Cherki has not. Two goals and two assists in his opening two games of the season followed a man-of-the-match display rated 8.53 by BBC Sport users, and he now leads the league for open-play assists since the start of last season, sitting second for open-play expected assists (8.2) and through balls (30). Twelve of his Premier League assists have come from open play, including Josko Gvardiol's winner against Bournemouth on the opening weekend. Enzo Maresca, whose Manchester City side sit on six points from their opening two league games, put it simply: "He's helping us and is going to help in the future." Cherki himself was more guarded afterwards, saying his display was "so-so" before adding: "Pep was a big story, we will start another story."

Palace's deepening pattern

Friday's defeat extended Palace's run without a Premier League win to nine games, stretching back into last season. Against City specifically the picture is starker still: two wins in their last 22 meetings (drawing five, losing 15), with no win at all in nine games since a 2-0 away victory in October 2021. City, in turn, are unbeaten in 11 straight Premier League away visits to Palace, a run dating back to a 2-1 loss under Manuel Pellegrini in April 2015.

There is a case that the underlying numbers are less bleak than the table suggests. Palace's open-play expected-goals figure of 1.96 against Everton on the opening weekend was the second-highest in the division behind only Brighton's 3.54, and last season the club were the biggest underachievers league-wide between open-play goals scored (22) and open-play expected goals (34.9) - a gap of almost thirteen. Chances are clearly there. Converting them, or stopping the concessions, is the unresolved part. Sage was blunt about the finish: "I'm frustrated with the score... We had a lot of opportunities and didn't take it." On his substitutions eroding momentum, he added: "You can't replace fatigue with low energy." It is only the second time in his managerial career that a Sage side has conceded four goals, the first coming with Lyon against PSG in April 2024.

Four days that could reshape the squad

Palace's transfer deadline concerns now carry extra weight. Jean-Philippe Mateta, missing from Friday's squad, reportedly suffered a hamstring injury in training two days before the game and is expected to be out for about four weeks, according to reports - a blow that could complicate any move away from the club before Tuesday's 23:00 BST deadline. Ismaila Sarr is also injured and has reportedly attracted interest from Liverpool. Right-back Daniel Munoz started on the bench on the same day Nottingham Forest, managed by former Palace boss Oliver Glasner, were reported to have bid £22m for him. Axel Disasi made his Palace debut off the bench.

City's own business is unresolved too. They are reported to be interested in Everton winger Illiman Ndiaye, 26, while Brazilian winger Allan, 22, is reportedly closing in on a move from Palmeiras worth up to £34.2m. There is also the possibility of Enzo Fernandez reuniting with Maresca, his former Chelsea manager, while Jack Grealish - left out of Friday's squad entirely - looks set to leave.

What's next

Palace face three league games before the first international break of the season: Fulham away, Ipswich at home, then Leeds away. Each represents a more realistic opportunity to open their points tally than facing City did. Maresca's side, six points from two games, host newly promoted Coventry City on 5 September. Haaland's record against Palace now reads six appearances, ten goals - he has scored in every one - and he has an extraordinary 24 Premier League goals in just 16 appearances during the month of August, behind only former Manchester United striker Andy Cole's 25 in 44 for the best August scoring return in the competition's history.

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Research: This article uses the archived evidence supplied for this story. Story inspiration: BBC Sport's original report.