Soccer
Pep Guardiola labelled Rayan Cherki an “exceptional player” after his stunning goal in a 2-0 win over Brentford helped Manchester City into the semi-finals of the EFL Cup.
Cherki opened the scoring in the 32nd minute at Etihad Stadium, picking out the top-right corner with his weaker right foot after a neat bit of skill on the edge of the box.
The Frenchman’s fine finish was followed up by Savinho’s 67th-minute strike, which deflected off the sliding Kristoffer Ajer and looped over the helpless Hakon Valdimarsson.
It’s been a fine start to life in a City shirt for Cherki, with only Erling Haaland (30) and Phil Foden (18) registering more goal involvements in all competitions than his 13.
Against Brentford, only Savinho had more shots (four to three) and attempted more dribbles (12 to three) than Cherki, though Guardiola was keen to applaud the latter’s display.
“Close to the 18-yard box of the opponent, he is an exceptional player,” Guardiola said.
“It was a fantastic goal. A blind guy, a blind woman can realise it is not necessary to be a journalist or a manager to realise he is a fantastic, fantastic player.
“I saw it many times with Phil [Foden] this type of goal, with Kevin [De Bruyne] before, so I am happy that it opened the game.”
Savinho also put his name forward for a regular starting spot with the Citizens, having only started 12 of the 23 games he has featured in across all competitions in 2025-26.
The Brazilian ended the contest with team-high totals for shots (four), successful dribbles (seven), touches in the opposition box (seven), and duels won (11), with both of his goals this season coming in the EFL Cup.
“What I like is that he is always going all the time,” Guardiola added on Savinho’s performance. “The final decision can be better but always as a reward for his work ethic, and he goes, and he goes all the time.”
For Brentford, meanwhile, they were unable to really trouble City’s defence, registering a measly expected goals (xG) total of 0.1 from their three attempts at James Trafford’s net.
However, Bees boss Keith Andrews believes that Guardiola’s men should have been reduced to 10 men in the 16th minute of the contest when a last-man tackle from Abdukodir Khusanov on Kevin Schade was only deemed worthy of a yellow card.
“I’m very quick to defend officials generally, it’s such a difficult job, but that was one they didn’t get right,” Andrews said of the decision.
“The explanation was that the touch being too far away from goal doesn’t quite sit well with me after watching it back because he’s clean through on goal.
“If it’s a red card, it’s a big advantage for us obviously, but we’ll never know.”
Despite that moment, Andrews was pleased with his side’s display, adding: “We showed a lot of courage, a lot of conviction and bravery in how we played and we had to
“We were missing some players from the front line. We had one day’s prep after Leeds where we changed the system, how we built, how we pressed.
“It’s testament to the players, how intelligent they are, how adaptable they are and how versatile they are.
“I felt there were moments where we could have punished City, we just didn’t quite take the extra pass, but we restricted them to very little.”
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