Rayan Cherki scored twice, received the player-of-the-match award and then described the opening half of his performance using language that required an apology from Sky Sports.
The Manchester City midfielder starred during his side’s 4-1 victory over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Friday evening.
Erling Haaland opened the scoring in the 17th minute before Cherki took control of the match after half-time. The Frenchman dribbled through the Palace defence to score City’s second and added another from distance five minutes later.
Haaland completed the victory with his second goal shortly before full-time.
Cherki and Haaland subsequently appeared together for a live Sky Sports interview, during which the 23-year-old was asked to assess a performance involving two goals and a player-of-the-match award.
“My performance was so-so,” Cherki said. “In the first half, we didn’t find the space. I played so s***.”
Cherki explained that he had seen manager Enzo Maresca preparing to replace him and wanted to demonstrate that he could remain on the pitch, score and create opportunities for Haaland.
This was successfully demonstrated through scoring twice.
Presenter Johnny Phillips issued the customary apology to any viewers who might have been offended by the language. Haaland then appeared to mutter: “I don’t think anyone was.”
The Norwegian had already laughed at his teammate’s assessment and encouraged Cherki to acknowledge that he had scored two excellent goals. Cherki remained more interested in discussing the passes he had failed to provide for Haaland.
The performance continued an impressive start to the season for Cherki, who recorded two assists during City’s opening victory over Bournemouth. He now has four direct goal contributions from two league appearances.
Most players use their post-match interview to praise the team and insist that individual awards are unimportant. Cherki used his to deliver a performance review stricter than Sky Sports’ broadcasting standards.
His first half may have been s***.
His second was good enough to make Sky apologise for hearing about it.
