Rarely does a video replay produce more theatre than the real thing. Yet, that is what Manchester City’s third goal against Sunderland managed to achieve, courtesy of the sublime feet of Rayan Cherki.
A magician’s flourishes, their sleights of hand, are delivered so cunningly, and at such speed, that the naked eye can fail to truly comprehend how they happened. It is why it took the Etihad 30 seconds and three replays to appreciate that the Frenchman had just produced a rabona assist.
After he and Phil Foden exchanged a series of passes, Cherki drove into the penalty area and chopped back onto his left foot. The next thing many saw was Foden heading the ball past Robin Roefs. The sheer audacity of the bit in between? That appeared to have been lost.
It was like a flipbook animation. Something extraordinary flashed past, but what? That is when necks jolted towards the big screens in either corner of the ground.
The footage was best enjoyed over three sittings.
The first, played at full speed from a bird’s eye view, brought a few ‘oohs’. The second, shown from behind the goal, revealed that despite the ball being well outside his left foot, he had crossed his right leg behind his left to make contact with it. A whole lot more ‘oohs’.
The third, a slow motion version, zoomed in on the French midfielder’s legs, showed how his body was facing 90 degrees away from the ball at the point of contact but had still struck it as cleanly as most would with a conventional swing.
UK readers watch here:
🚨 Rabona assist 🚨
Take a bow, Rayan Cherki 🤩 pic.twitter.com/aBnOd5vID6
— Premier League (@premierleague) December 6, 2025
U.S. readers watch here:
RAYAN CHERKI TURNED THE SWAG ON. 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/2vl4TO3GLD
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) December 6, 2025
There was the money shot. The ‘oohs’ morphed into something else altogether: a deep, guttural and elongated hum — the sort of instinctive groan let out when the ball smacks someone in the groin — was followed by a higher-pitched, hyena-like laugh. Combined, it was the Etihad expressing their collective disbelief at the temerity of attempting such a thing when the stadium had just got tetchy after two Sunderland chances.
The irony of his chosen technique? Cherki is the most two-footed player in the league. A simple left-footed cross would have sufficed but where’s the fun in that, especially if you want to announce yourself as City’s creator-in-chief?
“What I admire the most about Rayan is not the skills,” said Guardiola. “I never saw Messi play a cross like he has done. Messi is the best player to play the game but I never saw these kind of crosses. Crosses are fine, right or left or which part of your feet, it doesn’t matter. If it is effective it is fine but I like the simplicity because I learned from Messi that I never make a mistake with the simple things.
“The simple things he does perfectly then he dribbles past four or five players. I want players to do the simple things well and after that you have special talent and he can do whatever he wants. But if he doesn’t work now it will be a problem. He will be in trouble.”
It may sound a strange tone to have taken but this was Guardiola trying to temper the maverick in Cherki. After coming off to a standing ovation, it felt like he was reminding him that his purpose is not to fill a highlight reel, even if he did stress that he is a special talent.
He has been signed to fill the create void left by Kevin De Bruyne and that requires dead-eyed focus on the right decision every time. Had he not opted for the cheeky switch hit, Guardiola could have had few concerns about the motivation behind Cherki’s output.
Rayan Cherki delivered his best performance yet for City against Sunderland (Darren Staples/AFP via Getty Images)
It was the performance that introduced the full fat version of Cherki to the City faithful. There were the two assists against Bournemouth and a goal against Borussia Dortmund off the bench but, until now, most of his performances have been a series of moments. This was a full programme.
It was no coincidence that this was the first game in which City fully surrendered to Cherki’s need to dominate the ball. They did not merely lend it to him, they let him have it for as long as he liked. More often that not he returned it with interest.
Early on, there was a roulette to evade two players at the edge of the box and drive to the byline but no one was there to tap home. Then came a one-two with Matheus Nunes as his blind flick with his back to goal played the Portuguese right-back into the penalty area.
He started to disguise passes through the lines but it was in the second half that Cherki entered flow state. Every time a team-mate looked up he was in space: on the half-turn, head up, waiting for the killer pass to emerge.
In the 59th minute he produced a dribbling run and dinked pass that would have made his rabona look basic. Seemingly trapped against the byline, Cherki somehow weaved his way past two Sunderland jerseys and dinked the ball into Erling Haaland but the Norwegian’s volley was cleared off the line. He should have had another when he slid the ball across to Tijjani Reijnders.
The more touches he gets, the more he figures out how to unlock the game. He is a high volume player but there is never filler. A backward step is a last resort, and that must ensure remains the case.
There was still wastage. Speculative through balls that overran, cute passes cut out, a couple of shots he delayed too long. He can be guilty of hogging the ball and Omar Marmoush and Nunes let him know they were not pleased with him late on but City and Guardiola have to be OK with that. If he is not let off the leash, they lose the essence of what he is.
It was feared that Cherki and Foden could not co-exist. Too similar, too much luxury. Instead, they are having the kind of fun that happens when the two best kids from the two local schools finally meet someone on their wavelengths.
It was timely that Cherki chose this weekend to give City their swagger back. They could have been out out of contention after the Newcastle United defeat. Instead, after Arsenal dropped points for the third time in four games, they are on their tail, just two points behind.
