Crystal Palace vs Man City LIVE: Cherki steals show as Sage gives update on Mateta and Munoz

Man City are back in action next Saturday as they host newly-promoted Coventry City, while Crystal Palace go across London to face Fulham on the same day, with Pierre Sage still searching for his first point.

But before that, we’ve got the rest of this weekend’s action to sink our teeth into!

“I enjoyed it today,” said Elliot Anderson after his second appearance for City. “I felt more at home today, it’s my third game now and I feel like I’m getting better. There’s still more to come.”

“I’m always nervous when I go on the pitch but my first outing at the Etihad was pretty special. But it’s two wins from two now so I’m pretty happy.

“I’m loving it. It’s a bit different to what I’ve been used to.

“I’ve got to be a bit more structured, that’s what I’m learning – to stay in my position when at Forest I was doing a little bit more.”

“He’s helping us,” Enzo Maresca said on the Frenchman.

“He’s going to help us in the future. We know he’s a quality player, last game against Bournemouth with two assists, today with two goals.

“But I think Rayan was very good off the ball. He was in control of Wharton and he worked very hard.”

Crystal Palace boss Pierre Sage has confirmed that Jean-Philippe Mateta missed tonight’s clash with a muscle injury and will be out for four weeks.

The French striker is desperate to leave but this could prove a hammer blow to a Palace exit this window.

Sage said: “He injured two days ago at the end of a session with individual work. That’s a crazy thing, but we can lose him maybe for at least four weeks.

“It’s a muscular issue.”

Daniel Munoz has also been linked with a move away and was dropped to the bench against Man City, with Anan Khalail starting instead.

Khalail was later replaced but not for Munoz.

Asked about the decision to not involve the wing back, Sage said: “It was a sports decision. My decision.”

“I’m frustrated with the score,” Pierre Sage told BBC Sport.

“It’s heavy. We gave 60-65 good minutes. It’s our story for the moment. We know we’re a bit late in our pre-season. It’s why it was 45 minutes in the last game and 65 minutes today.

“The bad moment is the 3-1. We came back. We lost our hope in this situation. Before that we had a lot of chances which we missed. Against a team like this you need to be at your top.

“We let them put the ball in the box. We know Haaland can do good things with his head.

“We had a lot of opportunities and didn’t take it.

“Football is not about style, it’s about efficiency. and sometimes you need the points to have confidence.

“Mateta was injured two days before the game. At the end of a session, individual work. It’s crazy. Maybe we’ve lost him for four weeks at least.”

Phil Foden had something of a shocker in that first half at Selhurst Park, missing a number of gilt-edged chances to leave the game still on a knife edge.

He was a different man after the break. Two assists and, on the whole, a decent day at the office.

Erling Haaland says the team are still figuring out what works under new management and has urged Foden to keep pushing.

“We have to keep on playing together, find out where we are best and how to play,” Haaland said.

“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.”

The opening week of the new Premier League season showed that no game is easy in this league, but City certainly made a Friday night at Selhurst Park look simple.

While the win against Bournemouth at the Etihad saw a sigh of relief at the final whistle, this was the kind of night where City fans probably wanted the game to last all night, with Erling Haaland and Rayan Cherki providing the goals in an attacking performance that was scintillating at times.

Rayan Cherki has been speaking on Sky Sports after scoring a pretty stunning brace for Man City.

Is he patting himself on the back? Nope, quite the opposite.

“I played so s***,” he said. Bit harsh, Rayan!