Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City responded to Arsenal’s 1-0 away win earlier today at Leicester City in authoritative fashion after the Premier League champions dispatched Bournemouth in a 4-1 rout along the south coast to climb back to just two points behind Mikel Arteta’s Gunners as the race for league honors continues.
The expected tactical dynamic did not take long to show itself almost right after kick-off with City dominant while the Cherries were happy to sit deep and hope to hit the champions on the break.
But the plan unraveled after just fifteen minutes when World Cup winner Julián Álvarez put Guardiola’s men up by a goal from close range after Erling Haaland’s deflected effort rang off the bar when the Norwegian looked to pounce on a loose ball in the box in the wake of Neto’s kick-save to stop Phil Foden from dancing around him in the six-yard box.
Bournemouth began to look to work themselves a bit more into the match and did venture forward on a handful of occasions, but City would strike a second body blow just before the thirty-minute mark after Haaland did well to pounce and tapped home from close range after Foden’s attempt at Ilkay Gündogan’s ball from deep on the left channel deflected to the Norwegian.
It was Haaland’s 27th Premier League goal, setting a City record for the highest goal return in a single season, breaking Sergio Agüero’s seven-year record at the club, with the overall league goal record in a single season edging closer.
City would extend their lead to three goals just before the break after Danish midfielder Philip Billing played a poor bass across the backline for Foden to intercept and pounce before ripping home past Neto to give City three points at the half-time interval in clinical fashion.
Álvarez made it 4-0 just five minutes after the restart when his smashed effort off a rebound deflected off Chris Mepham, with his strike being accredited as an own goal nevertheless, the champions were in the mood in the wake of Arsenal’s 1-0 away win at Leicester City.
The home side refused to give in, however, and remained vigilant in their attempts to at least get on the scoresheet to give fans at the Vitality Stadium something to cheer for, and they would do just that in the 83rd minute through Jefferson Lerma from twelve yards out after the Colombian controlled a deflected cross before dispatching his volley past Ederson.
It would all end at 4-1 come full-time, with City keeping their 100% record (12-0-0) against Bournemouth in the Premier League intact, with Guardiola’s men intent on tracking down Arsenal once again, while the Cherries have collapsed back into the bottom three once again.
Bournemouth Player Ratings
- GK: Neto - 5.5
- RCB: Jack Stephens - 5
- CB: Chris Mepham - 4.5
- LCB: Marcos Senesi - 5.5
- RWB: Adam Smith - 5
- LWB: Jordan Zemura - 5.5
- CM: Jefferson Lerma - 7
- CM: Philip Billing - 5.5
- RAM: Dango Ouattara - 6
- LAM: Hamed Traoré - 7
- CF: Dominik Solanke - 5.5
- Sub: Ryan Fredericks - 6
- Sub: Joe Rothwell - 6
- Sub: Jaidon Anthony - 6
Manchester City Player Ratings
- GK: Ederson - 6.5
- RB: Rico Lewis - 7
- CB: Manuel Akanji - 7
- CB: Rúben Dias - 7.5
- LB: Nathan Aké - 7
- CM: Rodri - 7
- CM: Ilkay Gündogan - 7.5
- CAM: Julián Álvarez - 7.5
- RW: Phil Foden - 8
- LW: Jack Grealish - 7
- CF: Erling Haaland - 7.5
- Sub: Kalvin Phillips - 6.5
- Sub: Sergio Gómez - 6.5
- Sub: Riyad Mahrez - 6.5
- Sub: Maximo Perrone - 6
- Sub: Kyle Walker - 6
