Rayan Cherki mimics Erling Haaland as Man City send Arsenal message

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• Rayan Cherki

Manchester City's squad is getting better every week as the Blues looked much stronger than three weeks ago in the Leverkusen defeat

When Manchester City start winning games like this, Arsenal and everyone else should probably start worrying. Rayan Cherki's thumping effort downed Brentford and gave the strongest signal yet that Pep Guardiola's new team are hunting for trophies again.

Last season's slump shattered the aura that City had spent years building from their 100-point season to the Treble to four consecutive Premier League titles. As one group of players all shuddered to the same halt at the same horrible moment, rivals feasted on the remains and Liverpool cruised to the title in Arne Slot's first season in charge.

Nobody had City in the conversation for the league in August, and even fewer did when they lost two of their first three games. Arsenal became the team to beat and looked invincible as they were thrashing Spurs, Bayern, and everyone else in their pursuit of the big titles that have eluded them under Mikel Arteta.

Ever so quietly though, like a monster stalking its prey, City have been moving into position. Sunday's win over Palace kept them two points off the Gunners at the top of the league and they can go top for at least a few hours this weekend if they beat West Ham.

This Carabao Cup win over Brentford was another acid test. Guardiola made 10 changes to his team for a home Champions League game against Leverkusen three weeks ago and they were dismal in a 2-0 defeat that indicated City don't have the squad to compete in all competitions when their key men need rest.

The manager made seven changes for Brentford as he made clear that West Ham was the priority, with Erling Haaland, Bernardo Silva, Ruben Dias, Phil Foden and Gianluigi Donnarumma among those benched. It should be said that Brentford made six, with Caoimhin Kelleher a substitute and Igor Thiago and Jordan Henderson left out completely.

City took their time to settle but took control in the first half but had already established control when the ball dropped to Cherki on the edge of the box from a half-cleared corner and he shimmied, switched the ball onto his right foot, and rocketed it into the roof of the net. The Etihad have quickly warmed to the crowd-pleasing Cherki and as he ran over to the stands and copied Haaland's celebration of a lotus pose a team that has seemed overly reliant on the Norwegian at times this season could get another monkey off its back.

Brentford offered little in response for the next 35 minutes before Savinho raced onto a Tijjani Reijnders through-ball and saw his shot cannon off Kristoffer Ajer and over the goalkeeper into the visitors net. Having booked their spot in the Carabao semis for the first time since they last won it back in 2021, Guardiola could turn his attention back to the Premier League knowing that his squad is stronger than it was last month.

These are small steps for City as they look to build again after it all came tumbling down last season, but the fresh footsteps are getting too noisy for anyone to comfortably ignore. A week after they beat Real Madrid at the Bernabeu, this new-look side won six consecutive games in all competitions for the first time since they made history back in May 2024 with their fourth consecutive league title.

It may not be enough for Carabao Cup silverware this season, never mind anything bigger. But with Guardiola at the helm and Cherki, Nico O'Reilly and the rest emerging as new lights, City are getting stronger every week as they move more and more into contention for trophies.