Rayan Cherki wills City to a Perfect December

 Amar Zukancic

City closed out their 2025 with yet another win at the City Ground Saturday to make it a perfect 7/7 wins in December. It was a very rough and cagey affair, but City eventually came out on top after a legacy building performance from our number 10, Rayan Cherki. 
It was a relatively back and forth affair, and in the first half it seemed like City just couldn't get past the line and put the ball in the back of the net. It all changed at the start of the second half when Rayan Cherki slipped a perfect ball through to a crashing Tijjani Reijnders who bagged for a second consecutive match to give City the lead. A mere 6 minutes later, with what felt like their first legitimate chance, Omari Hutchinson brought the match level. After that it was all City pressure. We were on the front foot for the rest of the half, and finally in the 83rd minute the ball fell to the “weak” foot of Rayan Cherki who blasted it home to keep City’s title hopes alive. It was a moment that none of us City fans will ever forget, as one of the marking moments telling us that he has arrived in England. 

    This was the Rayan Cherki show today. It was like parts of the Sunderland match where it felt like he was doing whatever he wanted. He's one of the unique footballers, who when he is having one of his matches… you can't stop him. He was breezing through and around the defence, setting up teammates, and scoring volleys to win the match near the death of it. The best part of all of this is that we are just scratching the surface. He has been one of our best players this season, our most entertaining one, and he has missed half of the season so far. Injuries and a reluctance from Pep to play him has meant he's gotten off to a slow start, but that “slow” start has been world class. 

I'm going to harp on it again, this team feels special. They're so fun to watch, attacking minded, and entertaining. This team already has so many iconic moments from this season such as the Derby, the win over Liverpool, the Madrid match, Leeds and Fulham, and now this. It feels like seasons of the past where you can feel a momentum building, and you know it's the start of a new era of Manchester City football. Now off to the Stadium of Light to start off 2026 the way we ended 2025.