Inconsistent winger’s late heroics seal vital three points and earn manager’s admiration after frustrating season.
A beaming Pep Guardiola admitted he wanted to “kiss” Rayan Cherki after the French winger’s match-winning performance against Nottingham Forest, a stark contrast to the frustration he has often caused the Manchester City boss this season.
In a tense contest, Cherki broke the deadlock just after halftime with a clever pass for Tijjani Reijnders, and then sealed a 2-1 victory with an 83rd-minute strike, lifting City to the top of the Premier League table.
“There are moments I shout at him and there are moments I want to kiss him,” Guardiola said with a smile, capturing his turbulent relationship with the mercurial talent. “I want to allow him to express his incredible talent.”
The victory, City’s sixth consecutive league win, required grit as much as grace. After Reijnders’ opener was quickly cancelled out by Forest’s Omari Hutchinson, the champions labored against a spirited home side playing in memory of club legend John Robertson.
Guardiola acknowledged this was precisely the type of game his team would have lost last season. “I know memory is weak, but when we won our titles, these types of games were common,” he reflected. “It’s a massive three points… Last season that game is lost 10 out of 10 times.”
Forest manager Sean Dyche was left fuming, however, insisting a foul on Morgan Gibbs-White was missed in the build-up to Cherki’s winner. “Everyone watching could see that,” Dyche argued in a passionate post-match critique of the officials and VAR. “It’s such an easy game to referee… I can’t work out how you can’t get that right.”
Despite the controversy, the day belonged to Cherki, whose flash of brilliance provided the decisive moment in a hard-fought battle and finally earned a full measure of his manager’s approval.
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