Man City must build on victory over Palace –Haaland
Manchester City talisman Erling Haaland has urged his teammates to build on the impressive 4-1 win over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Friday.
The Citizens produced a stunning performance thanks to a brace apiece from Erling Haaland and Rayan Cherki to earn their second consecutive win of the season.
Haaland opened the scoring with a looping header in the 17th minute before he completed his brace in the second half with a thunderous finish.
Cherki scored two second half goals to continue his impressive start to the season.
Haaland has backed his teammates to continue their stunning form under Enzo Maresca.
He said: “It’s been a short pre-season. Rayan [Cherki], five weeks ago was at the World Cup. Game by game, we’ll be back, just need a few games. We played well, it’s a new manager but we’ve been playing together, with the addition of a few new players. We know what to do and have to trust the system.”
The Norwegian forward also showered praises on Phil Foden, who recorded two assists in the encounter.
Haaland said: “We have to keep on playing together, find out where we are best and how to play. We have so many good players and we have to fit everyone in. He has to keep going because we know how good Phil is, it’s about showing it week in week out. This is the right step forward for everyone. We have to build on this.”
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Haaland has now scored 24 Premier League goals in just 16 appearances in the month of August. Only former Manchester United striker Andy Cole (25 in 44) has scored more in the same month.
Man City will return to Premier League action against Coventry City on Saturday while Crystal Palace will face Fulham on the same day.
Top Stats From Crystal Palace vs Man City According to Opta
Only Andrew Cole (25 in 44 apps) has scored more Premier League goals in the month of August than Erling Haaland (23 goals in 16 apps).
Rayan Cherki is the third player to have a game with multiple goals and another game with multiple assists across a team’s first two matches of a Premier League campaign, after Thierry Henry in 2004-05 and Didier Drogba in 2010-11.
It’s taken Erling Haaland 68 games to score 50 away goals in the Premier League.
Since his debut in the competition in 2022/23, he’s scored at least 18 more away goals than any other player.
Man City completed 421 passes in the second half against Crystal Palace.
Their most in the second 45 of a Premier League game since April 2025 against Leicester (434).
