Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola hailed the influence of Rayan Cherki in a big 3-0 victory over Sunderland on Saturday that pulled them within two points of leaders Arsenal in the Premier League title race.
The 22-year-old French playmaker delivered a magical display capped by an audacious rabona cross for Phil Foden to head home the game's third goal before leaving to a standing ovation and a warm embrace from his manager.
Can we talk about Rayan Cherki's assist? 🤯🅰️
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"Rayan is an exceptional player," Guardiola said of the former Lyon player, one of City's key summer signings. "He's so young, (but) every time he had the ball he gave us extra passes and in the final third he has something special."
The stunning assist came when Cherki had the ball on the right edge of the box. He cut back inside on his left foot, and then rather than play a traditional left-footed cross, he opted for a rabona, wrapping his right kicking foot behind his left leg and then chipping to Foden to nod home.
Guardiola praised Cherki's simplicity as much as his flair, adding that the midfielder was lucky his bold decision on his assist led to a goal.
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"What I admire the most with Rayan is not the skills. I never saw (Lionel) Messi play this cross and he is the best player," the manager said.
"I never saw him do this, if the cross is fine, it's fine. Whether with your right, left, if it's effective, it's fine. I learned from Messi that I never make a mistake with the simple things.
"I want my players to do the simple things well. After that, if you have special talent that your mum and dad give to you, you can do whatever you want - but if it doesn't work then we have a problem."
Cherki dedicated the dazzling assist to the fans at Etihad Stadium.
"Yeah I heard (the fan reaction), just for the fans because I want to give the pleasure to others," Cherki told Sky Sports.
Cherki was quick to stress that City's desire is to focus on each game as it comes.
"We know that (we are two points behind Arsenal)," he said. We take the game one after one. We want to work for wins and games."