Rayan Cherki's sublime rabona assist in Manchester City's win over Sunderland on Saturday drew gasps from the home crowd and may be a moment of inspiration to turn the tide in this season's title race.

But while former City defender Steph Houghton described it as the assist of the season, manager Pep Guardiola was not as excited - urging the French playmaker to keep things simple.

Cherki was the star of the show at a rain-soaked Etihad Stadium, as Guardiola's men ensured there was no slip-up following leaders Arsenal's last-gasp loss at Aston Villa, and now sit two points off the top.

The 22-year-old had rolled the ball to Ruben Dias for the first goal, which the Portugal international thumped into the net from 30 yards, but his second assist will be remembered for a long time.

Cherki ran at Sunderland defender Trai Hume, turned him inside out, before clipping an audacious rabona, which the onrushing Phil Foden headed into the net via the crossbar.

"I worked for that," Cherki told BBC Match of the Day. "I know my quality, which is my technique, when I play with Phil [Foden], Erling [Haaland], Omar [Marmoush], it's very important to give the good balls for them."

It was a sublime pass but Guardiola's reaction afterwards suggested he wasn't a fan, warning Cherki may need to look at Argentine great Lionel Messi's ability in keeping it simple.

"I never saw Messi play a cross like he has done," said Guardiola. "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.

"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."

It still drew plenty of admiration, though. Former City defender Houghton, on the BBC's Final Score, said: "That assist! Assist of the season."

Cherki earned a standing ovation for his virtuoso performance when he was replaced by Savinho in the 82nd minute.

He reacted to being named man of the match by running his hand through his hair, smiling and nodding his head, knowing it had been a good day at the office.

The £30m summer signing from Lyon started the season in perfect fashion by scoring in the 4-0 thrashing of Wolves, but suffered a thigh injury thereafter which kept him out for two months.

He has now produced six assists in 13 games in all competitions this season, showing he is beginning to hit his stride for City.

Guardiola required a creative spark in the final third following the departure of Kevin de Bruyne in the summer and the France international may provide just that.

He created six chances against Sunderland, touching the ball 104 times and contesting 14 duels - metrics which rank higher than any other player on the pitch highlighting his influence on the game.

Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy 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."

City's comfortable 3-0 victory over the Black Cats cranked the heat up on Arsenal.

It was just the second league defeat suffered by Mikel Arteta's side this season but it may be incredibly damaging come the end of the campaign.

On 1 November, the Gunners had beaten Burnley in the early kick-off to move nine points clear of City but a month later, that advantage has been whittled down to two.

Unai Emery's Villa have launched themselves into the title race, moving just three points off the top following their impressive victory over Arsenal.

Guardiola said: "It is better to be closer than further to the top of the league but from my experience of winning the Premier League and titles, it is the consistency.

"Consistency comes from the way you play, not from the results or being two points in front or four in front. it is how you perform and how much you grow during the team. Today has been one of the best performances of the year during 95 minutes.

"With the Premier League, I have the feeling that Arsenal are going to drop [very] few points - and if we want to be there, we have to win games and games.

"That comes from the way you perform, not just for a lucky day or lucky action."