Cherki's rabona assist helps City close the gap
Rayan Cherki produced one of the assists of the season as Manchester City beat Sunderland 3-0 to move within two points of Premier League leader Arsenal.
Having seen the Gunners slip to a 2-1 defeat at Aston Villa earlier in the day, City took its chance to move within touching distance of the summit, aided by Cherki's brilliance.
In the 65th minute, Cherki sat Omar Alderete down on the right side of the area before producing a sensational rabona cross, which Phil Foden headed against the crossbar and in.
City was already 2-0 up by that point, with centre-backs Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol both scoring within four first-half minutes.
Dias's thunderous 25-yard strike deflected in off Dan Ballard in the 31st minute, before Gvardiol ghosted on to Foden's in-swinging corner to score with a downward header.
Sunderland came out firing early in the second half, with Gianluigi Donnarumma sparing Dias's blushes with a one-on-one save after the centre-back's error allowed Wilson Isidor in, before Granit Xhaka rattled the upright with a fine half-volley.
But the Black Cats' hopes of a comeback dissipated after Foden's goal, and their woes were compounded when Luke O'Nien jumped into a reckless challenge on Matheus Nunes and was dismissed five minutes into second-half stoppage-time.
O'Nien, who had only entered the fray as a substitute in the 88th minute, will now be suspended for the first Tyne-Wear derby in the Premier League since 2016, with Newcastle United visiting The Stadium of Light next weekend.
"I worked for that, I know my quality, my quality is my technique," Cherki said of his assist.
"When I play with Phil [Foden], Erling [Haaland], Omar [Marmoush], it's very important to give the good balls for them.
"Phil is a great player, he works for the team, runs for the team.
"Today it was a great game. We don't want to concede goals and today we didn't. Perfect day. We know that [we are two points behind Arsenal]. We take the game one after one. We want to work for wins and games.
City boss Pep Guardiola hailed the influence of Cherki in the win.
"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.
"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.
"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."
