Crystal Palace vs 28.08.26 19:001 – 4Full Time
Manchester City — Premier League: stats, lineups & analysis
Match report
Manchester City rout Crystal Palace 4-1 with Cherki double at Selhurst Park
Manchester City moved to the top of the Premier League table with a commanding 4-1 win over Crystal Palace in matchday two, played at Selhurst Park. Erling Haaland opened the scoring in the 17th minute, finishing off an Antoine Semenyo assist to give the visitors an early lead they never surrendered.
AI-assisted match report written from official match data.
The game swung further away from Palace after the break. Rayan Cherki struck in the 54th minute from a Philip Foden assist to double City's advantage, and within two minutes Gianluigi Donnarumma turned the ball into his own net to make it 1-2. Cherki added his second in the 59th minute, this time teed up by Joško Gvardiol, before Haaland completed the scoring in the 84th minute with another Foden assist, sealing a 4-1 margin.
City dominated territorially throughout, holding 73 per cent of possession and outshooting Palace 18 to 9, with nine shots on target compared to the home side's single effort. The expected-goals figures of 1.45 to 0.57 reflected the gulf in quality chances, as Palace, bottom of the table after two matches, struggled to contain their opponents' movement in behind.
Rayan Cherki scored twice in the second half, including the goal that put City firmly out of sight, earning the highest rating of the match at 8.7.
Manchester City's 73 per cent share of possession underlined their total control of the game against a Palace side unable to get a foothold.
Manchester City won 4–1 away against Crystal Palace (half-time 0–1).
Crystal Palace met Manchester City in the Premier League (Regular Season - 2). Kick-off was Friday, 28 August 2026, 19:00 UTC at Selhurst Park. Referee: Andy Madley.
Team pages: Crystal Palace · Manchester City · Premier League
Key moments
- 17' Goal: Erling Haaland (assist: Antoine Semenyo) — 0–1 · Watch Erling Haaland's goal video (17')
- 54' Goal: Rayan Cherki (assist: Philip Foden) — 0–2 · Watch Rayan Cherki's goal video (54')
- 56' Goal (own goal): Gianluigi Donnarumma — 1–2 · Watch Gianluigi Donnarumma's goal video (56')
- 59' Goal: Rayan Cherki (assist: Joško Gvardiol) — 1–3 · Watch Rayan Cherki's goal video (59')
- 84' Goal: Erling Haaland (assist: Philip Foden) — 1–4 · Watch Erling Haaland's goal video (84')
Starting line-ups
Crystal Palace (3-4-2-1)
Manchester City (4-2-3-1)
Sirius · Why these numbers
Before kick-off Sirius gave Crystal Palace 18%, the draw 23%, Manchester City 59%. It finished Crystal Palace 1–4 Manchester City.
Manchester City's rating gap outweighs Crystal Palace's home ground — Manchester City are clearly the stronger side on our strength rating, and the early-season home fade on top gives Manchester City a clear lead. The draw at 23% is lifted by the early-season fade in home wins.
Why Manchester City at 59%?
Manchester City sit 347 points higher on our strength rating — 1842 to 2189. Sides with a more than 300-point rating edge on the road won 65.9% of 5,215 such games. Both sides are inside their first six league games — home wins land softer this early in the season, so this trims Crystal Palace's column. Across 10,741 opening-stretch games since 2010, home sides won 42.8% where the rating map expected 44.9%, with draws up 2.1 — negative in every season since 2018. The 300 most similar past games finished 21–23–56.
Why only 59%?
No scored evidence points the other way. 59% is what this rating gap has been worth in games like these; the rest is the draw at 23% and Crystal Palace at 18%.
Why is the draw only 23%?
With a rating gap this size the draw starts at 21.8%. These teams' recent games average 3.0 goals — a typical goals environment. Games in that environment drew 24.6% of 24,891. Early-season fixtures add 2.1 points to the draw.
What did we measure but not count?
Manchester City average 20 points more possession, but the rating gap here is 347 points. Our control receipt only exists between near-equals — there it moved results; across a class gap we could not measure a separate style edge, so style scores 0 here. Crystal Palace have shed 70 strength-rating points over their last 10 games. Momentum is measured but not yet proven: sliding sides won 34.7% of 9,669 such games vs 34.5% class-expected — inside the noise band, so it stays at 0 points until the receipt clears its evidence bar. The other measured facts on this page scored nothing either.
Sirius probabilities, frozen at kick-off. Analysis, not betting advice. How Sirius is doing this season · Full breakdown, evidence cards and squad news in the Match Insights tab
About this match
On this page: the Crystal Palace vs Manchester City final score and result, goal highlights and video clips of every goal, who scored, starting lineups, match stats and the full match report from this Premier League fixture.
- Who scored and when — a goal-by-goal timeline of the match.
- Match stats — possession, shots, expected goals (xG), corners and cards.
- Starting lineups and player ratings for both teams.
- Head-to-head record and recent form for both sides.
- Watch Erling Haaland's goal against Crystal Palace (17').
- Watch Rayan Cherki's goal against Crystal Palace (54').
- Watch Gianluigi Donnarumma's own goal video (56').
- Watch Rayan Cherki's goal against Crystal Palace (59').
- Watch Erling Haaland's goal against Crystal Palace (84').
Watch the goals: goal highlights and video clips of every goal from Crystal Palace 1–4 Manchester City. Explore more on the Crystal Palace and Manchester City team pages or the Premier League page.