Cherki's Late Spark Rescues City's Premier League Opener
For 63 minutes, Manchester City's season opener against Bournemouth threatened to unravel. Then Rayan Cherki happened.
The Frenchman, introduced alongside Mateo Kovacic in the 63rd minute, transformed a laboured display into a 2-1 victory at the Etihad. It was the kind of impact that makes you wonder why he wasn't on from the start.
Player Ratings v AFC Bournemouth
Season averagesBournemouth, through Marcus Tavernier's 26th-minute strike, had taken the lead and held it with increasing comfort. City huffed and puffed, creating little of note until Cherki's introduction changed the game's entire complexion.
His first contribution was a corner, delivered with his left foot from the right, that Marc Guehi headed home in the 84th minute. The equaliser had been coming, but it needed Cherki's quality to make it happen.
Then, in the 91st minute, came the winner. Close control, neat footwork, supreme vision — Cherki's attributes were all on display as he set up Josko Gvardiol to seal the three points.
The numbers tell the story: four chances created, two goals assisted. A one-man creative department when City needed it most.
“The impact was unbelievable,” Enzo Maresca said afterwards. “He is that kind of player. I like Rayan, I told him also after the game.”
So why the bench? Maresca explained that with Erling Haaland, Nico O'Reilly, Marc Guehi and Elliot Anderson already in the starting lineup, he didn't want a fifth player with a short preparation. Cherki, it seems, was the victim of his own late arrival from holidays.
The manager acknowledged the forward's displeasure at being left out.
“Rayan is quite a nice and clear boy. If he is not happy he wants to show it and I know that he was not happy today, but at the end I had to take a decision.”
It was a decision that almost backfired, but ultimately delivered the perfect response. Cherki's frustration manifested not in sulking, but in a match-winning cameo that City's opener badly needed.
The 2026-27 campaign is up and running, and City have their enigmatic star to thank for it. The question now is whether Maresca can find a way to accommodate him from the start.