New-Look Haaland Off The Mark As Man City P…

Photo by Vince Mignott/MB Media/Getty Images

Erling Haaland opened his scoring account for the campaign by scoring twice as Manchester City thrashed Crystal Palace 4-1 in the Premier League on Friday night.

Premier League
Teams: Crystal Palace v Manchester City
Result: 1-4
Scorers: Donnarumma OG (56′) / Haaland (17′, 84′), Cherki (59′, 54′)

Enzo Maresca decided to bring Nico O’Reilly into the City midfield alongside record signing Elliot Anderson, while Rayan Cherki earned a start after getting two assists off the bench in the come-from-behind 2-1 victory over Bournemouth.

The Cityzens got off to the perfect start when Haaland opened the scoring on 17 minutes by getting on the end of Antoine Semenyo’s cross and heading past Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson to get his campaign up and running after last weekend’s blank.

The visitors looked to add to their tally as the first half went on, but they were let down by their finishing, most notably Phil Foden who squandered two golden chances in the box after some good work by Elliot Anderson and Rayan Cherki.

City continued to dominate as the first half went on, but Palace did manage to create a couple big openings in the final ten minutes of the first half, but both Strand Larsen and Mitchell were unable to steer their respective headers on target.

Palace were made to rue those misses as Maresca’s charges doubled the lead eight minutes into the second half when Cherki opened his account for the campaign with a lovely individual effort in the area to open his scoring account this campaign.

The second goal sprung the game into life as Palace pulled a goal back when Yeremy Pino’s well-struck free-kick hit the woodwork and ricocheted into the back of the net off Gianluigi Donnarumma’s back, before Cherki restored City’s lead on 59 minutes with a powerful strike from distance.

City would go on to grab a fourth goal with six minutes remaining on the clock as Haaland completed his brace with a lovely finish at the near post after being played in by Foden, as Maresca’s charges moved top of the table with back-to-back wins.

Next Three League Fixtures:

Crystal Palace: Fulham (A), Ipswich Town (H), Leeds United (Crystal Palace)

Manchester City: Coventry City (H), Manchester United (A), Sunderland (H)

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