Rayan Cherki keen to be a ‘free soul’ and entertain Manchester City fans

Rayan Cherki described himself as a “free soul” with a duty to make fans happy after producing a moment of magic in Manchester City’s comfortable victory over Sunderland.

The French playmaker capped a superb performance by creating City’s third goal in a 3-0 win at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday with an improvised and eye-catching rabona cross.

It was the 22-year-old’s best display since joining the club from Lyon in the summer and he hopes there is plenty more to come.

“All the time I play like a free soul because it’s my life,” he said. “I want to take pleasure, I want to give pleasure to the fans and today I’m very happy.

“The rabona is my creativity. When I do this rabona I don’t know where the ball is, I just think about putting the ball on the head of Erling (Haaland) or (Phil) Foden and today it’s good.

“I do it in all the games because it’s my quality. It’s my job, I work all week for that.”

It was only Cherki’s sixth start for City having had a spell on the sidelines through injury and needed time to settle.

He was signed as a potential replacement for Kevin De Bruyne and has had to convince manager Pep Guardiola that, while his skill-set is not in doubt, he can fit into the team’s established system.

After the game, Guardiola hailed him as an “exceptional player” and said he had not even seen Lionel Messi produce such a cross, but added he still “has to do what he has to do for the team”.

Cherki said: “I take my time. The adaptation period is very hard and I work all the weeks for that.

“I have the confidence of Pep and I’m very happy for that.”

City took charge with two goals in the space of four minutes from centre-backs Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol.

Sunderland threatened a fightback in the second half and hit a post through Granit Xhaka, but their challenge ended when Cherki’s clever cross found Foden to head home his fifth goal in three games.

Victory reignited City’s title challenge as it allowed them to take advantage of Arsenal’s slip-up at Aston Villa to move within two points of the top.

Sunderland’s frustration was compounded when 88th-minute substitute Luke O’Nien was sent off for a poor challenge on Matheus Nunes.

It meant a disappointing end to a positive week which included a creditable 1-1 draw at champions Liverpool, but they should need little motivation for next Sunday’s clash with Newcastle.

Manager Regis Le Bris said: “I think it was a good week for us. It’s not unusual to lose against Man City.

“I think we won’t be the only team this season to struggle here. We learn from different experiences and we’ll be ready for the derby.”