Two of Manchester City’s goals from the 3-0 win at Anfield are on the shortlist for the Premier League’s October Goal of the Month, with Jeremy Doku and Rayan Cherki both nominated.
The pair struck after Erling Haaland’s opener on Merseyside, and between them they cover the two sides of how City scored that day: one moment of pure individual quality, and one flowing team move finished off with a bit of cheek.
Supporters can vote now. Voting closes at 12:00 (UK) on Monday 9 November, and the winner will be announced on Friday 13 November.
Jeremy Doku’s curler past Alisson
This was Jeremy Doku doing what Jeremy Doku does best. He came inside off the left flank, as he has done so many times, and bent a curling shot into the far top corner.
Alisson was at full stretch and still had no chance. For a winger whose end product has been questioned, it was the kind of finish that shows why City keep believing in him, and it came in the same game where he tore Liverpool apart after coming back from injury.
How did Cherki’s goal come about?
Enzo Maresca’s side were already on course for a rare win at Liverpool when Cherki added the gloss. The move ran through Doku, Elliot Anderson and Josko Gvardiol, and it was Gvardiol who backheeled the ball into Cherki’s path.
Cherki had already done plenty of the work by then. His clever dummy earlier in the move released Gvardiol, and when the ball came back to him he feinted away from Jeremie Frimpong and finished under Alisson. It was individual brilliance at the end of a typically fluid City move.
Who else is on the shortlist?
City are not the only club with a strong case. Ipswich Town’s Abdoul Ouattara is among the nominees for his strike against Fulham, so the two City goals will need plenty of votes to come out on top.
Can City make it a monthly double?
No City player is on the league’s Player of the Month shortlist for October, so this is City’s best shot at a Premier League award for the month. The club have named their own October Player of the Month shortlist as well.
If we had to pick one, it is Doku’s. Cherki’s goal was the better team goal, but the Belgian’s finish is the one people will remember from that afternoon at Anfield. The worry for City is the votes split between the two, which could hand the award to someone else.
Either way, it is a reminder of what both players can do. Doku is in our predicted lineup for Nottingham Forest on Saturday, and another goal like that would do him no harm at all.
