Manchester City fans who had made the long journey to Swansea City on Wednesday night might well have been fearful that their up-and-down side could be on the receiving end of an EFL Cup upset.
Their fears were beginning to be realised when Gonzalo Franco fired the Championship hosts into the lead after 12 minutes, after the number 17 calmly beat stand-in City stopper James Trafford to send the home masses into raptures.
Thankfully, for City’s sake, that was as good as it got for Alan Sheehan’s home side, as Pep Guardiola’s visitors ended up running away with the clash to secure a comfortable 3-1 win.
City are still on for some silverware; therefore, in the EFL Cup, with Jeremy Doku hopeful that his efforts in Wales mean he is in with a shot of a Premier League start against AFC Bournemouth this approaching Sunday.
Doku's performance in numbers versus Swansea
After all, the Belgian likely stood a good chance at starting against the Cherries on the left flank, anyway, irrespective of what he mustered up on Wednesday night, with Savinho seriously struggling in City sky blue as of late.
Doku has only boosted his already strong chances, though, with his showing against the Swans, as this deflected effort – which came about from the ex-Rennes man’s initially tricky footwork – levelled the scores in the first half, before Omar Marmoush eventually handed the away side a late second-half lead.
The diminutive attacker is well known for his front foot approach in attacking areas, as can be seen looking at his high successful dribble rate per 90 minutes back in the Premier League, and it was on full display throughout in Wales, with seven dribbles attempted in total.
With four key passes under his belt, too, it’s clear that Doku will be able to ramp up the entertainment levels far more on the left flank than Savinho moving forward, meaning the fast-paced number 11 could soon be reinstated into Guardiola’s starting lineup.
Yet, he isn’t alone in banging down the door for more first-team chances, as this other sensational performer against Swansea looked a class above everyone else on the pitch and is now viewed as undroppable.
The undroppable City star who looked "streets ahead"
In the end, even with Guardiola hooking the likes of Erling Haaland and making wholesale changes, City just had too much star power for the hosts to contain.
Rayan Cherki, in particular, bamboozled the Swans all night long, with one City-based content creator stating that the ex-Lyon playmaker “absolutely ran the show”, which is a fair assessment when you dig deeper into his numbers from the 3-1 win.
Minutes played
90
Goals scored
1
Assists
1
Touches
119
Shots
5
Accurate passes
74/92 (80%)
Key passes
6
Total duels won
5/11
Unfortunately, Cherki’s early days at the Etihad have been riddled with injury issues, with the dazzling Frenchman only fit enough for six games so far this season.
Hopefully, he will move past these recurring niggles to become a crucial first-teamer now in Manchester, with Cherki helping himself to a goal and an assist across the duration of his sensational 90 minutes against their in awe EFL opponents.
Cherki would stylishly dictate play by amassing a whopping six key passes from his mammoth 119 touches, while also showing off a fiery edge to his game when winning five ground duels.
With a further goal coming his way against Wolverhampton Wanderers on the opening day, the time is right, surely, for Cherki to be given an extended run in the main side.
Haaland will also be licking his lips at the prospect of working alongside such an entertaining attacking marvel, who was labelled as being “streets ahead” of everyone else on Wednesday night by journalist Amos Murphy for his quick-witted play up top.
Doku and Cherki would love to cause similar havoc together when Premier League action returns, with more wins soon to be added to Guardiola and Co.’s league tally, if they can regularly run rings around top-flight defences together.