Rayan Cherki shows superstar potential as Man City breeze into Carabao Cup semi-finals | OneFootball

Take Erling Haaland out of the team and Manchester City still had two of his trademark celebrations. Which, in turn, meant they had a goal to set them on a path to the Carabao Cup semi-finals. If the temptation is to say that Haaland is inimitable, Rayan Cherki delivered his impression of the Norwegian, but more after scoring than in the act of it.

Haaland has many a goal in his repertoire, but probably not the rocket Cherki unleashed from 20 yards, especially as it followed dainty footwork to swerve away from Mikkel Damsgaard. But the tribute was recognisable. First the robot, then the meditative pose. From his vantage point on the bench, Haaland seemed to enjoy it.

In a week in which Haaland dressed up as Santa Claus to go out on the streets of Manchester – the Norwegian accent and height meant he fooled few – Cherki showed there are different types of impersonations.

For Pep Guardiola, the comparison came more with Phil Foden or Kevin De Bruyne than Haaland. “Close to the 18-yard box of the opponent he is an exceptional player, a blind guy can realise that,” he said. “It is a fantastic goal. I saw it many times with Phil this type of goal, with Kevin before.” If Cherki’s return of four assists from his previous four league matches indicated he was providing the creativity De Bruyne used to supply, this was the kind of spectacular finish the Belgian also delivered.

Cherki is among the arrivals in a year when City have spent some £350m on 11 new recruits, but there remains a lopsided look to a squad that has a lone senior specialist centre-forward. If it was a way of suggesting Haaland is irreplaceable, as he got a rare rest, City faced Brentford’s back five with a quintet of attacking midfielders, a formation that could be described as 4-2-4-0 and Cherki, whose shirt number – 10 – indicates his preferred position, was often the furthest man forward amid a cast of rotating false nines.

“If Omar is here, we would not play in that way,” said Guardiola. But Omar Marmoush, the only natural alternative to Haaland at City, has gone to the African Cup of Nations with Egypt, so Cherki had a new responsibility.

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Rayan Cherki looked like a £30m bargain against Brentford (Action Images via Reuters)

With false nines, Guardiola argued out-and-out wingers were vital and Savinho struck in more fortunate fashion. His goals are too infrequent and he delivered just the second of a season in which he has played 20 games, although it required a sizeable deflection off the sliding Nathan Collins to loop over Hakon Valdimarsson and in.

But in the process, he helped his manager move closer to another record. Guardiola has been level with Sir Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho and Brian Clough on four League Cups for the past four years. A fifth could beckon now after a game when Guardiola got his rotation right.

Three weeks ago, he made 10 changes against Bayer Leverkusen, suffered a surprise home defeat and admitted it was too many. This time, there were seven alterations and Cherki, one of the four retained, displayed why he looks a £30m bargain. Guardiola nevertheless balanced praise with criticism. “In the second half, Rayan did not do the job he should have defensively,” he said. It was a reason why he was taken off, but Matheus Nunes, Bernardo Silva and Josko Gvardiol came in to see the victory out.

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Savinho scored only his second goal of the season in which he has played 20 games (Action Images via Reuters)

Foden, who was perhaps set for a similar second-half cameo, was instead a substitute who was substituted, summoned within 20 minutes when Oscar Bobb limped off and to allow teenager Charlie Gray a late debut. Guardiola’s policy of mixing youth with senior players on the bench brought outings for each.

Brentford, without Igor Thiago and Jordan Henderson, had fewer options. They could nevertheless wonder if it might have been different, if they could have spent more than 70 minutes facing 10 men. Their threat stemmed mainly from the pace of Kevin Schade, and Abdukodir Khusanov was booked for a foul on the German as he chased a long pass. Brentford wanted the punishment to be stronger, arguing it was the denial of a clear goalscoring opportunity, but, with no VAR, referee Sam Barrott’s decision stood.

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Abdukodir Khusanov was fortunate not to be sent off (Getty Images)

“It was a big moment,” said manager Keith Andrews. “I am very quick to defend officials. I have been drawn into nothing in my time in charge, but it is one I feel they didn’t get right tonight and the explanation of it being too far from goal doesn’t sit right.”

Brentford’s chance may have gone as the yellow card emerged. Thereafter, James Trafford punched away Mathias Jensen’s free kick and saved Vitaly Janelt’s long-range effort. A clean sheet was welcome for the goalkeeper, whose only two previous appearances for City at the Etihad had both brought 2-0 defeats. Guardiola seemed to promise him a place in the semi-finals. City will be there. Perhaps Haaland, a spectator for their Carabao Cup campaign, will even appear. If not, there could be more impressions of him.