Pep Guardiola takes aim at Man City star despite heroics - 'He will be in trouble'

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Pep Guardiola has urged Rayan Cherki to 'keep things simple' in the wake of the plaudits being lavished upon the Manchester City star following his spectacular rabona assist in Saturday's comprehensive victory over Sunderland .

Cherki, 22, dazzled in City's 3-0 win, bagging two assists. After laying the ball off for Ruben Dias to find the net from 30 yards, Cherki sent in a perfect rabona cross for Phil Foden to head home City's third and final goal at The Etihad.

The attacking midfielder, a £31million summer signing from Lyon , was the main talking point after the game with a fine performance. But while others have lauded his showman-esque assist, Guardiola brought the Frenchman back down to earth after the game with his views.

The former Barcelona chief said of his rabona: "I never saw Messi play a cross like he has done. Messi is the best player to play the game but I never saw these kind of crosses.

"Crosses are fine, right or left or which part of your feet, it doesn't matter. If it is effective, it is fine, but I like the simplicity because I learned from Messi that I never make a mistake with the simple things."

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Guardiola then urged Cherki to knuckle down, work hard and keep doing the 'simple things' well, stressing that he doesn't need to turn on the style to make an impact with the ball.

He contined: "The simple things he does perfectly, then he dribbles past four or five players. I want players to do the simple things well and after that you have special talent and he can do whatever he wants.

"But if he doesn't work now, it will be a problem. He will be in trouble."

Cherki has now amassed six assists in 13 games since linking up with City, who moved to within two points of Arsenal at the Premier League summit with their latest win.

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Danny Murphy was impressed with the City star and pointed out that only the thigh injury that kept him sidelined for two months has prevented him from nailing down a more regular spot in Guardiola's side.

He told BBC Sport : "Rayan Cherki has been in and out of the City team, missing two months through injury at the start of the season, but he has wonderful skill and vision.

" Pep Guardiola is wary of having too many players in his side who aren't defensive-minded and he might look at Cherki and ask: 'Is he a number 10, can he play wide?' But Cherki is capable of opening up teams at any moment with a bit of brilliance.

"From watching recent games, he is starting to build a nice relationship with Erling Haaland . When you are a centre-forward, you want players prepared to take a risk the final ball and Cherki is certainly a risk-taker.

"He showed unbelievable skill today, not only for the rabona assist, and is going to play a huge part for them moving forward."

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