WATCH Manchester City and Crystal Palace in the 26/27 Carabao Cup, & FA Cup in NZ, LIVE & EXCLUSIVE on beIN SPORTS | Sign up here and save up to $60 on our Annual Pass Now | AU | NZ

Palace started brightly, but went behind in the 17th minute when Haaland jumped to reach Antoine Semenyo’s cross and send a looping header beyond the despairing dive of Dean Henderson, for the Norwegian's first goal of the new league campaign.

In an end-to-end affair, City's Phil Foden spooned the ball over the bar in the 21st minute and Eddie Nketiah wasted an excellent chance for the home side early in the second half before Cherki netted in the 54th minute, dancing through the defence before poking the ball home.

Palace pulled a goal back two minutes later when Yeremy Pino's free-kick came back off the crossbar and bounced off the back of City keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma before hitting the post and dropping into the net.

But whatever hopes Palace had of staging a comeback were quickly snuffed out when French playmaker Cherki scored again in the 59th minute, flashing a deflected shot off Chris Richards and into the net for his second of the night.

Not to be outdone, Haaland picked up a pass from Foden and blasted home a typical left-foot shot in the 85th minute to complete the rout for Enzo Maresca's side and give City the maximum six points from its opening two games.

While moving away from Guardiola, as well as stalwarts like Bernardo Silva, John Stones and Rodri, means City is undergoing a rebuild, Cherki feels the squad is perfectly poised to begin a new era.

"Pep was a big story, we will start another story," Cherki said.

"We want to prove it and are here for that."

Haaland said that City's players are trusting the process as they get to grips with what Maresca expects.

"It's been a short pre-season. Rayan [Cherki], five weeks ago was at the [2026 FIFA] World Cup. Game by game, we'll be back, just need a few games," he said.

"We played well, it's a new manager but we've been playing together, with the addition of a few new players. We know what to do and have to trust the system.

"We have to keep on playing together, find out where we are best and how to play. We have so many good players and we have to fit everyone in. This is the right step forward for everyone. We have to build on this."

Palace boss Pierre Sage, meanwhile, saw one of his teams concede four goals in a game for only the second time in his managerial career, previously losing 4-1 with Lyon to Paris Saint-Germain in April 2024.

"I think we were able to play 60 minutes, stayed in the game. When I made the substitutions, the energy of the team went down. I'm a bit angry with that," Sage said.

"Both [at my team and myself], we are together. I'm with my team every moment.

"We had a lot of chances, it's difficult to have hope against this kind of team without scoring.

"When you change players, you need more energy, I didn't find that.

"We know we are in a process, we know we have to work. We have to not accept this kind of situation, we deserved a better result. Two negative situations at the end.

"We were late in our preseasons. I think at the moment we need substitutions. You can't replace fatigue with low energy."

Palace will look to win its first points under Sage when it travels to Fulham for its next Premier League game on 6 September (AEST), but will first hope to add to the squad further, with the transfer deadline approaching in midweek.