Manchester City narrowed the gap on Premier League leaders Arsenal to two points after beating Sunderland 3-0 at the Etihad Stadium and Pep Guardiola praised Rayan Cherki’s flair after the match.
Pep Guardiola’s side entered the contest under pressure to keep pace in the title race, and they responded with a performance built on early control, defensive composure and individual brilliance in the final third.
Sunderland, who arrived in Manchester sitting an impressive fifth, had shown throughout the campaign that they were capable of troubling bigger sides.
For a spell in the second half, it looked as if they might find a route back into the match. But City, unlike in recent outings where they let Leeds and Fulham surge back, shut the door firmly this time.
Two goals from unlikely sources — centre-backs Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol — established a platform the Sky Blues rarely relinquished.
Phil Foden later applied the finishing touches, but it was Rayan Cherki’s contribution that lit up the afternoon and drew the loudest reactions inside the stadium.
City build early control as Cherki unlocks Sunderland
Guardiola’s men started with a level of urgency that Sunderland struggled to match. The hosts shifted the ball quickly, forcing the Black Cats to retreat deeper and deeper into their own half as wave after wave of City possession pinned them back.
It was from a set-piece situation that City opened the scoring. Dias, often tasked with keeping goals out rather than scoring them, found space in a crowded penalty area and guided in the opener midway through the first half.
The timing was damaging for Sunderland, who had defended stoutly until then. Barely a few minutes later, Gvardiol doubled the advantage, reacting fastest to a loose ball and striking with the composure of a seasoned forward rather than a defender..
At 2-0, the mood inside the Etihad shifted from anxious to assured. City’s midfielders began to dictate proceedings with more freedom, pulling Sunderland out of shape and making the pitch feel twice as large for the visiting side.
Yet Sunderland did not fold completely. Early in the second half, they mounted brief but spirited attempts to gain a foothold, pushing higher up the pitch and forcing City into hurried clearances.
For a moment, it looked as if the story of City’s recent matches — strong start, nervous middle, frantic finish — might be repeating itself.
But any such concerns evaporated after Foden delivered City’s third with trademark sharpness, thanks to one of the standout pieces of skill of the Premier League campaign so far.
Pep Guardiola praised Rayan Cherki’s flair after the Frenchman had flickered in and out of the match, suddenly produced a moment that stopped time. Collecting the ball near the right flank, he assessed the movement in the box and shaped his body for what looked like a standard cross.
Instead, he unleashed a perfectly weighted rabona that arced towards Foden. The England midfielder met it with determination, his header crashing off the underside of the bar and bouncing over the line.
It was the kind of finish that grabs headlines, but the assist was the true work of art. The entire sequence seemed to drain the remaining belief out of Sunderland and energised the Etihad in equal measure.
Guardiola praises Cherki’s flair — and urges simplicity
After the match, Guardiola focused his attention on one man: Rayan Cherki. The young Frenchman has been something of an enigma since his arrival — capable of producing magic one moment and taking unnecessary risks the next.
The City manager acknowledged both sides of that coin, praising his talent while also outlining the development still required.
“Rayan has a special, unique quality. Sometimes you love him, sometimes you hate him but he’s special — a composer mentality. He has something that just mom and dad gave to him.”
Guardiola smiled as he said it, fully aware that players like Cherki — unpredictable, expressive, occasionally maddening — offer something no coach can design on a tactics board.
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Yet he emphasized that genius needs structure if it is to shape key moments consistently at elite level.
“I want him to make a good cross. If he doesn’t make a good cross, I don’t like. He did that and it’s fine. I never saw Messi doing these kind of things. Messi’s the best player to play the game.
“The biggest quality of Messi is the simplicity of Messi, the simple things he does perfectly. The biggest players like Rayan have to learn this. But he’s so young.”
Those words encapsulated Guardiola’s philosophy: admire the artistry, but do not allow it to eclipse the fundamentals.
Cherki’s rabona cross, for all its flair, was ultimately effective — something his manager has been urging him to prioritise. And performances like this one could well accelerate his growth in a City side stacked with talent.