Keeping it simple allowed a Manchester City enigma to break open City’s match against Sunderland | OneFootball

As Manchester City beat Sunderland 3-nil at the Etihad yesterday to move within two points of Premier League leaders Arsenal, there was one standout player on the pitch for City. That was Rayan Cherki. The French international produced a dazzling display as he showed everything that makes him such a special player. Outside of the tricks and incredible pieces of skill Cherki produced, his first half display, where he did exactly what his team required, set the platform for him to unleash his prodigious talent in the second half.

Rayan Cherki did the simple things superbly well in the first half of yesterday’s match.

There was a telling quote that came from Pep Guardiola after Manchester City’s win over Sunderland. Speaking on Rayan Cherki and his performance yesterday, the Manchester City manager said if Cherki does what he has to do for his team, he will play many minutes for City. Guardiola explained: “In his career, I have the feeling he has done whatever he wants. Here, he has to do what he has to do for the team. When he is able to do it, he will play a lot of minutes for many years at this club.”

For the first half of yesterday’s match, Rayan Cherki did the team things for Manchester City. He played a key role in Manchester City’s first half control of what looked like it could be a difficult match against Sunderland. Cherki was smart in possession and only tried to play a defence-splitting pass when the opportunity arose. The French international tracked back well, and I thought he was superb in helping his team dictate terms in yesterday’s match. There were shades of what Bernardo Silva does for Pep Guardiola’s side in Cherki’s first half display. What Rayan Cherki’s first half performance did was lay the platform for his dazzling second half.

Cherki then broke the game open for Manchester City in the second half.

In the second half of Manchester City’s win over Sunderland, Rayan Cherki predominantly played on the right wing. As Sunderland pushed to get back into yesterday’s match and the game became stretched, Manchester City had more space to play in. Although Sunderland almost pulled a goal back on two separate occasions in the first 10 minutes of the second half, you could see where City would have joy. It was in the space on the right, and Rayan Cherki took full advantage of it.

On one piece of play, Cherki bamboozled the Sunderland defence. He beat several defenders with his close control and immense dribbling ability to set up a chance for Erling Haaland on the hour mark. Haaland’s goal-bound effort was cleared off the line, but the threat that Cherki was posing was on full display. Five minutes later, he would produce a piece of magic to help his team settle yesterday’s match.

Rayan Cherki’s Rabona assist that created Phil Foden’s 65th-minute goal was a piece of art. It was a sublime piece of skill that left the Etihad Stadium crowd breathless. It will be replayed for years to come, and that moment is the perfect encapsulation of Rayan Cherki as a player. He can produce the spectacular at any moment, and he did exactly that in the 65th minute of yesterday’s match. But to get to that point, Cherki had laid the groundwork with his disciplined first half display as his performance yesterday was arguably his best all-around display for Manchester City.

Pep Guardiola would prefer that Rayan Cherki keep it simple with his play.

Speaking on Rayan Cherki’s mind-boggling assist, Pep Guardiola said he prefers to see his players do the simple things well. Guardiola added that he never saw Lionel Messi attempt such a feat when he was managing the Argentine superstar at Barcelona. Guardiola explained after his team’s victory: “Rayan is an exceptional player. He is so young, he has a huge personality. He is not scared and has self-confidence.”

“In the final third, he had something special, but what I admire the most about Rayan is not the skills.”

“I never saw Messi play a cross like he has done. Messi is the best player to play the game, but I never saw these kind of crosses. Crosses are fine, right, or left foot it doesn’t matter. If it is effective, it is fine.”

“But I like simplicity. Messi never made a mistake with the simple things. The simple things he does perfectly, then he dribbles past four or five players.”

“I want players to do the simple things well and, after that, if you have special talent, he can do whatever he wants. But if it doesn’t work it will be a problem, he will be in trouble.”

Pep Guardiola got the simplicity he craves from Rayan Cherki in the first half of yesterday’s match. Cherki was superb in helping Manchester City control the tempo of yesterday’s match. After halftime, when the game became stretched, Rayan Cherki was the best player on the pitch as he tormented the Sunderland defence. It was a fine all-round performance from Cherki and showed exactly what he can do within the framework of a team and what he can do when the space is there and he has freedom to operate in the final third.